Lib Dem Councillor demands action on family homes

4.20.14pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 21st May 2006

Planning rules should support quality, rather than quantity.

Lib Dem councillor Roger West, responding to proposed new planning rules for housing, has written demanding changes from the Government to support families in Bournemouth.

In his letter, Cllr West highlight challenges Bournemouth faces meeting the demand for new homes from families growing up in Bournemouth.

'In the last decade, the rate new homes have being built has doubled from just under 600 in 1997, to over 1,300 in 2005' says Cllr West. 'However most of these are flats near the coast. This does not meet the demand for family housing.'

Cllr West also identified other issues such as protecting the Green Belt and the increasing use of back gardens and other land to cram in housing.

The letter also highlights the low quality of new flats and houses: the lack of space for living and for storage in new homes.

'Flats should be of a good size, hopefully with balconies and storage areas for things like bikes and Xmas trees etc.'

'A clear case of quantity rather than quality. What we're seeing is town cramming, not town planning,' Roger adds.

Related Link:

Councillor West's response to the ODPM.