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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
New homes MUST be affordable
November 8, 2011 5:14 PM
• [Nov 01]: THERE is a growing revolt amongst Twickenham residents over the proposed development of Twickenham railway station. The latest proposals include a high rise development above the station which some local residents believe is far too high. At a recent packed public meeting, attended by local Lib Dem MP Vince Cable, there was criticism of the height and scale of the proposed development and of the lack of affordable social housing.
Munira Wilson, Liberal Democrat London Assembly candidate for South West London, challenged developers Solum at the meeting over their lack of affordable housing. Speaking afterwards, Munira said, "Solum need to provide clear answers as to how they can fly in the face of local planning policy and desperate local need by not providing any affordable housing on the site. Solum are being egged on by the Deputy Leader of Conservative-led Richmond Council who has shamefully claimed affordable housing is not a priority for local people."
"All new homes built as part of the redevelopment of Twickenham Station should be affordable housing", says the Leader of Richmond Council's Liberal Democrats, Cllr Stephen Knight. "We have a real need for more affordable housing in this borough to tackle a homelessness. Given how few sites there are for significant new housing and the fact that the station is publicly owned land, all the new homes should be affordable housing, either social rented or shared ownership. We are told that for the scheme to be self-funding it must either be overly high or have no affordable homes, but neither need be true if the council were to subsidise the scheme."
"The council has a significant capital budget available for subsidising affordable housing schemes, put in place by the previous Liberal Democrat administration, and there is also government funding available via the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). It is time the council stepped in to offer the required subsidy to enable all the new homes to be affordable. The original application from Solum Regeneration on behalf of Network Rail included just a paltry 28 affordable flats compared with 137 luxury private apartments. The latest application has no affordable homes whatsoever, with all 115 flats being expensive private apartments."
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