Sandway Homes is the official name of the newly created Sefton Council owned Housing Development Company.
Sefton Council’s Cabinet approved the new company name and arrangements for its board of directors. The newly formed company is now moving forward with developments across the borough. One such development is in Ainsdale’s’ Meadow Lane.
Homes England has agreed to provide a grant of £623,000 to carry out infrastructure and remediation work on the site off Meadow Lane in Ainsdale, which was formerly the St John Stone RC Primary School. The council will deliver infrastructure works before handing it over to Sandway for new housing development. Sandway will carry out around £579,000 of work to the site before new house building can begin. Under the funding agreement, the infrastructure works need to be completed by March 2021.
The new housing development has apparently been warmly welcomed by Ainsdale’s Liberal Democrat councillor, Lynn Thompson.
All planning permissions authorising residential development come with certain conditions. The development cannot start until these conditions are satisfied or how they are to be complied with has been made clear. The planning procedure involves pre-application discussion and negotiation with the planning authority/politicians. Consultation with residents and other stakeholders (to a greater or lesser amount), which informs and effects the conditions placed on any agreement, and the imposition of conditions on the final consent should the application be granted. Of course, when a council is also the developer this makes it much easier for the council to move forward with its plans from the onset.
Residential concerns
Residents have, however, raised valid concerns about amplified pressure on the local services and available amenities. Legally-protected water voles are also known to inhabit watercourses close to the new development area.
Increased traffic gridlock and parking, with subsequent child safety concerns outside the adjacent King’s Meadow School, will also be a serious issue. Car parking problems are already critical outside many schools. Fears about possible house prices decline in existing properties close to the new building site are also a worry to homeowners.
Just because Sefton Council’s new housing firm can build a new toy town may not mean that it’s a great idea. This is especially questionable when we examine potential problems it may create for existing residents.
Cramming even more houses into an already congested area may not seem like a very good idea to folks already living there. Vehicles, and especially large wagons and buses, have problems driving around the small roads off Meadow Lane, which often have other vehicles double – parked. More traffic flow threatens to turn this problem into a nightmare.
Nevertheless, a clearly motivated Sandway spokesperson said: “Our mission now is to create quality, ambitious housing in a purposeful, ethical, and sustainable way that puts real people at the centre of everything.”
This rather ambiguous statement poses the question: what exactly are “real people?” Moreover, what is “quality, ambitious housing”? Is Sefton’s new housing firm alluding to the creation of ‘expensive’ properties that are out of reach of many people in what has traditionally been known as an impoverished, largely council house laden, Woodvale area? If they are then they should say so!
Last March OTS News reported that the estimated number of properties for Meadow Lane would consist of approximately 49 homes.
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/say-potential-housing-developments-southport/
However, more recent reports suggested that the number of homes was yet to be agreed. The council said the plans would “make a significant contribution to the local economy” and “add housing choice and affordability”.
By this token, it appears that this will be a substantial development of “quality, ambitious housing” (luxury?) houses in a very small and frequently congested area.
More.
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/dream-home-turns-to-house-of-horrors-in-kew/
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/kews-housing-estate-swamp-fiasco/
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/house-building-hesketh-bank-persimmon/
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