1500 new homes for Ware

What do you think about the quality and pace of housing development in Ware?
jbond
Posts: 109
Joined: Fri 28 Jan 2005 12:00 am
Location: Ware

Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

Post by jbond »

FWIW, there is the Facebook group(s) where we're trying to provide a united front against the plans and pushing Ware Town Council to actually do something about it.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/saveware/

Please come to the Ware Town Council full meeting. Monday 26th Feb, 7pm The Priory. There will be some issues around the District Plan on the Agenda. Note there are 7 councillors on Ware own Council who are also councillors for EHDC and will be voting on adoption.

Please post comments on the consultation.
http://consult.eastherts.gov.uk/portal/ ... ifications
Comments are supposed to be very specifically on the exact wording of the Main Modifications to the latest draft of the district plan. I reckon general angry rants won't do any harm, even if they are ignored and thrown out for being off topic.

- Consultation finishes
- Inspector sends report to EHDC
- EHDC finishes the final version of the plan
- EHDC vote to adopt the final plan (Late May?)
- The developers prepare a Masterplan in collaboration with "site promoters, landowners, East Herts Council, Hertfordshire
County Council, town and parish councils (Ware, Thundridge, Wareside) and key stakeholders. This document will further be informed by public participation in the process." I'll leave you to guess what "informed by public participation in the process" actually means.
- The developers expect to submit outline planning after all that. In Q3 2018!
boyboy
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Joined: Wed 13 Nov 2002 12:00 am

Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

Post by boyboy »

I read other posts on here of people saying that local housing is out of reach for their children. Then they say no more houses to be built. Well seems that if you don't build houses then prices will continue to rise. In this age people have to have somewhere to live. House building on this scale is needed throughout the country then hopefully prices will stabilise and fall. Or maybe that's what people are really worried about.
Matt40
Posts: 266
Joined: Mon 12 Apr 2010 12:00 am
Location: Ware

Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

Post by Matt40 »

boyboy wrote:I read other posts on here of people saying that local housing is out of reach for their children. Then they say no more houses to be built. Well seems that if you don't build houses then prices will continue to rise. In this age people have to have somewhere to live. House building on this scale is needed throughout the country then hopefully prices will stabilise and fall. Or maybe that's what people are really worried about.
I just don't think there is a housing shortage. If 34% of houses have two or more spare bedrooms then there's a massive misallocation problem going on. We're all just living in the wrong sized accommodation surely? Then add in all the second empty homes across the land then that accounts for a lot of spare capacity. That said I do think the house building spree is a top level agenda to get house prices back to a sensible level and boost the economy in the short term as I can't see the government being able to afford 'generation rent' rents as well as their state pensions in the future. Personally, they could take my house price back to 2006 levels when I bought it, I can't spend the gain!

The issue I have with the Ware planned new houses is that I think it punishes Ware considerally as the amount of houses proposed is not proportionate to the town, it's massive and will create pressures that I can't see how they will resolve e.g. high street traffic, surrounding roads parking etc
jbond
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Joined: Fri 28 Jan 2005 12:00 am
Location: Ware

Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

Post by jbond »

boyboy wrote:I read other posts on here of people saying that local housing is out of reach for their children. Then they say no more houses to be built. Well seems that if you don't build houses then prices will continue to rise. In this age people have to have somewhere to live. House building on this scale is needed throughout the country then hopefully prices will stabilise and fall. Or maybe that's what people are really worried about.
This is a FAQ. Here's some related ones. "Will the new Ware houses be for Ware people?", "How much affordable housing will there be?", "Where are my kids going to live?".

3-4-5 bed executive homes, in a network of cul-de-sacs, built on green field sites, with garden city principles, for £500k upwards, won't answer any of that. But they will maximise landowners and developers profits and council tax income. Of course there will be a token percentage of "Affordable" homes. EHDC is even setting goals of "up to 40%", But will it be social housing, social rent, affordable rent (80% of local market rates), intermediate affordable, with right-to-buy. And will it get watered down, and down? If they build 10% I'll be surprised.

With all the infrastructure, link roads, schools to build, mods to Rush Green roundabout and so on, 1000 houses is a bit of a knife edge for the developers. That's why they're pushing so hard to get it up to 1500. But that will grid lock Hertford and the A414 which is why HCC are pushing so hard to keep it down to 1000. If they're limited to 1000, they're not going to want to build affordable housing at all. So the development will be for relatively wealthy Londoners wanting a dormitory with easy access to a train to Liverpool St. You think that's going to bring house prices down?
Matt40
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Joined: Mon 12 Apr 2010 12:00 am
Location: Ware

Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

Post by Matt40 »

I agree with what you are saying Julian but Ware is just part of a bigger picture and I agree that in the short term they will be unaffordable.

In the longer term there's masses of house building now up and down the land. Where I come from in Sittingbourne Kent there are plans that join up 4 villages to the main town! The housing market environment is now changing what with increased taxation on landlords, increase of supply through new building, upward pressure on interest rates and the possible reversal of annual immigration rates. I'm beginning to wonder whether the house price boom of the last 25 years will peeter out and surely the new Ware houses will reduce in price like everywhere or at least stagnate to allow wages to catch up one day?

That said I still don't believe Ware needs new houses like anywhere else and it's a misallocation problem.
Ian
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Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

Post by Ian »

boyboy wrote:I read other posts on here of people saying that local housing is out of reach for their children. Then they say no more houses to be built. Well seems that if you don't build houses then prices will continue to rise. In this age people have to have somewhere to live. House building on this scale is needed throughout the country then hopefully prices will stabilise and fall. Or maybe that's what people are really worried about.
I don't know how others feel, but the reason I don't want an extra 1000-1500 houses is fairly complex but nothing to do with being a NIMBY or wanting to keep house prices high. The main problem is that the infrastructure here and everywhere around London is overstretched and really needs to be upgraded before more houses and flats should be built, but the planning authority, central government and the inspector repeatedly ignore these problems and carry on building. Here is an extract from the feedback I provided to EHDC back in January 2016 for the initial consultation:

I fully support EHDC drawing up a development plan and recognize the value of the plan. To ensure future development is carried out in a controlled way.

Existing infrastructure for the South East is already stretched to breaking point, shown by long waiting times for hospitals; full doctors and dentist surgeries;full schools; congested road and rail services; water shortages during dry summers and insufficient funding to keeps roads repaired and pot hole free. If the South East and Ware specifically grows it's imperative to improve infrastructure before more building work starts. Ware will need to accommodate extra HGV traffic and the associated workforce while building works are ongoing, not just afterwards for residents.

Development Density – although EHDC state that high density housing is not a preferred option, developers will try to build in this manner. The planning authority and developers need to have strictly defined housing density guidelines well in advance.

The effect on the present town in terms of parking provision and the provision of out of town retail facilities is significant for Ware. High Streets have fared badly since the recession and the council must encourage local businesses in the town. The provision of new shops in the North Ware is likely to split Ware into two small towns, thus making things so much worse than it is currently and leading to more closed shops.

Infrastructure improvements must be carried out up front. To be told at the public meeting that that there is no money for this is a great concern and I can see that Ware's infrastructure will become completely over-burdened after houses are built while waiting planned improvement of roads, health services and rail services etc. as developers historically have too often failed in their obligations to meet planning requirements. Enforcement resources will need to be strengthened to ensure that this is not the case with such a large development project.

There was much more like this and as is usual from EHDC and all planning departments it was completely ignored. Others may fare better, I really hope they do, but from my point of view recent decisions show that local and national government aren't prepared to listen to local views.
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Andy B
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Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

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jbond
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Location: Ware

Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

Post by jbond »

More here. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ajid-javid
Probably related to the NPPF draft revision also due on Monday.

"Javid said homes would not be built on green belt". Yeah, right.
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kevin phillips bong
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Location: Ware - the centre of the Universe!

Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

Post by kevin phillips bong »

Ware on 'firework hill' was on Channel 4 news tonight. Recognized some people but didn't have sound on as I was on the phone.

If Mr Javed wants to build 5 new towns between Oxford - Cambridge, that would be superb as presumably it will be built alongside the new rail line going along there so providing transport infrastructure.

Looking at the City today (Liverpool Street) are any of the high rise buildings being built going to provide much needed affordable housing for Londoners????
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Steve
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Re: 1500 new homes for Ware

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