News Mass homes increase for Goole area?
Thousands of new homes could be built in Goole as part of Government plans to increase the country's housing stock.
The town is one of 32 cities and towns in the Yorkshire and Humber region which have been earmarked as ripe for further development.
Civil servants have drawn up a 216-page dossier setting new rules for the region's housing, transport, flood protection, farming and the economy. Called the The Yorkshire and Humber Plan, it sets out a blueprint for the future of the region over the next 20 years.
The plan - which is currently being reviewed by the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly, the regional planning body - will act as a guide for local authorities when making planning decisions. Over the last four years about 15,000 new homes have been built in the region each year, but now the Government has changed its target to 24,440 homes a year, starting from now.
In the East Riding, the target is for 1,190 new homes to be built each year up until 2026, with 760 new jobs created. The major settlements earmarked for development in the county are Goole, Driffield, Bridlington, Beverley, Driffield and Haltemprice.
However, the fear is that - in its determination to cram 440,000 new homes in the region's 'major settlements' - the Government's employment targets are too ambitious, meaning many of the new homes could have no takers. There are also real fears that there may have to be incursions onto green-belt land - with the Government having told local authorities to allow up to 35 per cent of new developments on greenfield land. In Goole and surrounding areas, there is also real concern that the high flood risk - coupled with hundreds of new homes - could exacerbate the problems. This and other factors will now be taken into account when the plan - which also aims to reduce congestion, introduce draconian parking rules and increased parking charges - comes under review.
In the meantime, the region's new Local Development Framework - a subsidiary housing plan which is being put together by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) - will now go out to consultation. It is this local development plan which will decide where the new houses will be built once the review is completed.
The town's MP Ian Cawsey said Goole had been identified as 'an area of growth'. He added that new investment and jobs would lead to an increased demand for housing in our area.
"What is important is to get the detail of this right," he said. "We have flood risks that need to be managed and we need a selection of new homes for the future. So, as well as big executive homes, we need smaller family homes, affordable homes for first-time buyers, and more social housing to help those on housing waiting lists for whom buying is not necessarily an option.
"As the details of these proposals begin to materialise, we will need to study them carefully. The very future of our town and our area will be mapped out and we will all want to ensure that they get it right."
The East Riding of Yorkshire Council has not discounted fears that the massive house-building programme could spill out into the countryside. The authority says the flood risk will also have to be managed with so many new homes being built every year. An ERYC spokesman said it was "inevitable" that there would be some development in "remote" areas.
"The majority of houses will be concentrated in the major settlements, but clearly there will be some houses built in remote areas," he said. "One of the issues for Goole will definitely be flood risk. That's got to be taken into account when deciding how much development Goole should have and where it should be - that's a major issue for us all to face."
One of the major aims of the regional housing plan is to move people into the big towns and cities and away from rural areas.
To help the environment, the Government also wants more people living nearer to their place of work, so as to cut down on car usage and increase the number of people using public transport.
Many believe that this presumption in favour of the larger towns and cities will lead to reduced development in the East Riding, with homes and jobs moving to Hull, the region's largest city.
Published on 5th June 2008 in News.
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