Jump to content

Battle Lines Being Drawn?


JennyMorgan

Recommended Posts

16 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

In my opinion it will not be long at all before we see these new homes swallowing up the countryside all the way from Brundall to the Postwick hub, and then marching northwards towards Wroxham.

Whatever happened to the "green belt"?

However you see little or no development the other side of the river. To the south of the river Yare. They seem to concentrate towards Cringleford, Bowthorpe, Longwater, Costessey, Rackheath, Salhouse, Brundall and the Broadland Business Park area including Postwick. The march towards Wroxham will not take long. 

Or am I being over defensive of my "patch".

Andrew

Link to comment
Share on other sites

People need to live somewhere, if there is insuficiant affordable homes then new ones need to be built along with services including recreational open spaces.

Sure, anyone whose house currently overlooks open countryside is going to complain if said open countryside is built on,

The urban landscape can be every bit as pleasant to live in as the countryside, perhaps more so, as when I lived in the country there was very little scope for walking over the fields as they were all privately owned and fenced. Of course you could walk the country lanes but there quiet slumber is often threatened by boy racers, car & motorbike, and the 4x4's.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not quite sure if that report is entirely right - and to be honest I am not really bothered but it may have ramifications for the Broom operation.

The bit delineated on the plan is different from the piece I originally understood was having the "factory" - I had originally thought it was going to be on the bit sandwiched between the bypass and Yarmouth Road which at one stage was not designated for housing. It all looks to be a bit of a tangled web and if I could be bothered , I guess we could find links between the various companies wishing to develop and the VC's now owning Brooms.

As hinted in another thread, certainly the current owners of Brooms do not look necessarily to be in it for the boatyard operation or indeed a hire fleet but look to have connections all over that area and fingers in other pies!!  Ooops - still being cynical or what here!!!!!!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I rather suspect that like the situation at Thurne mouth we are seeing a company who didn't get what they originally wanted stirring the hornets nest and the local parish council retaliating. I believe Brooms originally wanted a new factory inland and then to redevelop all the riverside area into luxury apartments and penthouses, with a small boat yard and marina retained as a nod to it's location. I'm assuming this has met with much resistance so toys out of the pram and the threat to cram in lots of houses on Greenbelt, with the council now threatening CP. If most of the above is correct then I hope the local council has the budget and b*lls to complete the CP and show they are not prepared to be shoved around by bully boys who speak with their wallet. These companies need to learn to live peacefully alongside their neighbours for the duration rather than rape the area for all they can, to line their own pockets.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was out at Wells last week and decided to cut across country and come home the fast way on the A148. I had not been to Holt for a long time due to my wife's illness. I could not believe the house building and road works going on.

Also Wells is going to get even busier in the season as the Holkham Estate are building a huge Touring Caravan park on the Beach road just South of the present Static site.

I think the whole character of Norfolk will change and for certain more folk will want to own a boat on The Broads where it is safe and does not require in depth seamanship. Greater demand will push prices higher and will create more pressure on the system.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, smellyloo said:

The urban landscape can be every bit as pleasant to live in as the countryside,

but isn't it nice to have both ?

5 hours ago, smellyloo said:

People need to live somewhere, if there is insuficiant affordable homes then new ones need to be built along with services including recreational open spaces.

If we build on every piece of green, there will still be a need for more.

I doubt services will ever be able to keep up with need and I see it getting worse.

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have strong views on all this building and I had best leave it as that. BUT, I do get fed up with the way these big building companies just plunder the area (has anyone looked around Takeley recently and all in  a few short years. It is still being developed). Somehow once they get a foot hold there is no stopping them: in-fill, back-fill, side-fill and every other conceivable kind of fill imaginable. And all with houses and estates that look exactly the same - no individuality between neighbourhoods at all.

I drove across the Cambridgeshire fens the other day, through a village in which an old friend of mine once lived. It has not escaped development but the development has been undertaken by local builders and there are all sorts of houses with reasonable sized gardens. It looks so much better and has I think rather enhanced the village.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about huge charges put on empty houses to make them too expensive to have sat unoccupied?

Fill that little lot and, just maybe, we could keep a field or two or worse still keep  a boatyard or two! 

Have a sail round Oulton Broad and then ask yourself "what have we allowed to happen?"

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately its not just Green Belt, here in London they are building properties by the thousand largely flats on what was commercial sites including pubs while the existing infrastructure cant cope with what we already have be it hospitals, schools or water supply etc. while we continue to allow the country to be over populated there is no answer and it will only get worse.

Fred

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, JanetAnne said:

How about huge charges put on empty houses to make them too expensive to have sat unoccupied?

Fill that little lot and, just maybe, we could keep a field or two or worse still keep  a boatyard or two! 

Have a sail round Oulton Broad and then ask yourself "what have we allowed to happen?"

You ain't seen nothing yet! The saturation apartments being built on the old Pegasus boatyard site is an amazing example of what the Broads really don't need. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Being an old cynic I rather suspect that councils rather like the developers. With the cuts in funding these days they can get the construction companies, as part of the planning deal, to provide "essentials" that they cannot afford to put in place themselves - like roads, new schools, etc.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe second home ownership should be significantly taxed to discourage  wealthy souls from investment and help fund affordable homes in rural areas.

It is areas like ours where property prices are inflated by the second home brigade.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, smellyloo said:

Maybe second home ownership should be significantly taxed to discourage  wealthy souls from investment and help fund affordable homes in rural areas.

It is areas like ours where property prices are inflated by the second home brigade.

What makes you think it isn't?

Government rules mean that councils "can" give up to 50% discount on council tax on second homes. My local council certainly doesn't and most don't.

The income used to buy a second home will have been taxed at source.

There is an additional three percentage stamp duty when buying a second home.

When you go to sell a second home you are liable for capital gains tax on any increase in value. 

Since a boat is effectively a second home for many of us, should we looking at significantly increasing the taxes for boat owners? OOPs, the BA have beat us to it. :naughty: 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, kfurbank said:

What makes you think it isn't?

 

Second home ownership can be very damaging to the local community:-

It inflates the cost of local housing rendering it impossible for local youngsters to buy.

They contribute very little to the local community ... pubs, post office etc

The lack of affordable housing will force youngsters to migrate to large towns & cities adding to the demand for new build in these areas.

These wealthy home owners will be in the vanguard of opposition to new develpments for affordable housing in their rural idyll.

So no, I don't think the measures you listed deter the purchase of second homes.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, smellyloo said:

Second home ownership can be very damaging to the local community:-

It inflates the cost of local housing rendering it impossible for local youngsters to buy.

They contribute very little to the local community ... pubs, post office etc

The lack of affordable housing will force youngsters to migrate to large towns & cities adding to the demand for new build in these areas.

These wealthy home owners will be in the vanguard of opposition to new develpments for affordable housing in their rural idyll.

So no, I don't think the measures you listed deter the purchase of second homes.

 

Smellyloo, You suggested that second homes should be significantly taxed to discourage ownership, to which I replied what makes you think it isn't and gave you the examples. Clearly the taxation route isn't working!!! I happen to agree with much of what you have written above, just don't think the answer is additional taxation.

How about any new build in an area has to have a 50/50 split of affordable housing with say 90% of the affordable housing only available to people who currently live with, or have relatives in the area as their main residence?

How about setting a second home threshold for an area, once the threshold is reached any home coming onto the market can only be sold as a main residence? Clearly this could slow down the market in certain areas with a resultant drop in property prices. Whilst second home ownership can kill a village, the profiteering villagers leaving the village have to take some responsibility as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kfurbank .... interesting ideas however they must be easy to apply and not give the local authority an excuse to set up another expensive department to administer the rules.

 

For me the simplest method would be to add a multiplier to the council tax for any second home registered without a permanant resident. Anyone allowing permanent use of the second home (renting or otherwise) would be exempt.

 

However I feel your idea of limiting the sale of "new affordable housing" to local families & possibly people moving into the area to take up work has much merit.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, smellyloo said:

However I feel your idea of limiting the sale of "new affordable housing" to local families & possibly people moving into the area to take up work has much merit.

One or two local Authorities are already adopting this approach, one in Cornwall in particular was mentioned on the TV last week

Fred

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, rightsaidfred said:

Unfortunately its not just Green Belt, here in London they are building properties by the thousand largely flats on what was commercial sites including pubs while the existing infrastructure cant cope with what we already have be it hospitals, schools or water supply etc. while we continue to allow the country to be over populated there is no answer and it will only get worse.

Fred

or electricity, some of these developments we are having to run electricity from 4 or 5 miles away to get an adequate supply. In one area we brought in electricity from 6 miles from the outskirts of london and had to build our own primary substation to supply the new estate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, rightsaidfred said:

One or two local Authorities are already adopting this approach, one in Cornwall in particular was mentioned on the TV last week

Fred

Just been a sort of victim of it. We are selling and had a buyer (Norfolk borne and bred) who had sold to a family who have lived in Norfolk in rented for two years and work as nurse and paramedic in a Norfolk hospital. Unfortunately our buyers house has a Section 157 restriction - can only be sold to those who have lived/worked in Norfolk for three years. The council would not let the sale go through and an application to have the restriction lifted was refused. It is now going to appeal.

Obviously I have my own views which I will  not share seeing as I have a vested interest!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Sponsors

    Norfolk Broads Network is run by volunteers - You can help us run it by making a donation

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

For details of our Guidelines, please take a look at the Terms of Use here.