Last week I promised to provide as best I can an explanation about how development locally has happened and why, so often, there appears to be a disconnect between the construction of new housing and the infrastructure and services needed as a result of the growth in population that development brings.
Apologies for the long post, but equally sorry to those who know about the subject for it being a very high-level view. This was originally about three times the length and it's about creating a balance between boredom and detail.
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Development can happen through a Local Plan or through speculative applications when the Borough does not have enough housing identified to meet the government target.
In either case, the local infrastructure needs to be considered to ensure that it can cope with the increased population. Developers are required to contribute towards the cost of infrastructure improvements. Either through CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) which is paid to TVBC and the parish council for general use or through Section 106 agreements, which are legally binding agreements between the developer and the local authority. The contributions set out in these agreements are for specific purposes, but there can be challenges if they are not spent within a set period or if they need to be diverted to different projects.
The improvements agreed upon at the point of planning permission may also not be needed or wanted by the time the development is built.
One of the challenges with developer contributions to infrastructure is that they are limited to the impact of each individual development, so there is little or no chance to take into account the cumulative impact of many smaller developments.
Part of the challenge as well is the need to justify the need and amount of contribution from developers required to mitigate population growth.
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This falls under TVBC and they have actually been very successful at gathering funding for new facilities. The new sports centre at Ganger Farm is a good example, as are the football pitches and community centre and sports pavilion at Abbotswood.
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Hampshire Highways have a much harder job in obtaining funding. The hurdle for justifying additional highway improvements is much higher and because the works needed are generally some of the most expensive individual elements itโs much more of a fight to obtain developer contribution.
That said, money is taken and pooled for schemes, so the pedestrian crossing on Duttons Road, the traffic lights at the junction of Winchester Road and Braishfield Road and the upcoming improvements to the junction of Halterworth Lane and Winchester Road are just some of the examples.
When the Whitenap development is built there will be new roundabouts constructed on Luzborough Lane to allow access to the new housing for example. That improves infrastructure to access the development, thereby increasing road capacity from a technical point of view, but doesnโt take into account the increased wear and tear on the roads, the need for improvements elsewhere and the greater need for, and impact upon existing, public transport.
One final point is that too often in my opinion there is an expectation that people will walk and cycle to and from developments, which we should of course encourage. However, this is limited to accessibility for the development itself, no thought, or funding, is given to improving or creating safe routes to nearby town centres or other facilities.
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In my experience, health is the most difficult of the areas with which to engage to justify additional funds from development. For a long time, there has been no over-arching body which can advocate for funding for health, that should change with the merger of Clinical Commissioning Groups, but even so, there are so many things upon which they focus my experience has been that this doesnโt seem a priority for them.
The default has been to offer accommodation for outreach medical services in community centres on or near new development (Abbotswood for example). That though has tended to happen without any reference to the medics who would be expected to provide it. The challenge is more often staffing rather than accommodation.
Better engagement from health services with the process, articulating the impact of increased population and what funding is needed to provide services to meet it is whatโs desperately needed.
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County Education are again quite good at obtaining funding for new facilities from large developments, the challenge once again comes from how to accommodate population growth from many small sites.
Over the last few years there have been contributions to our local schools from the new developments as they have been built around Romsey. This has helped to pay for additional accommodation and facilities. The new community created at Whitenap over the next 10 years or so will also have a new primary school built as part of the development.
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