Everyone was taken by surprise and happy when the Government announced their gigantic plan to build 28000 new homes across North Staffordshire, but later it was put on hold. Once the plan was announced both Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Newcastle Borough City Council were supposed to work on a draft version of the plan blueprint. Unfortunately, this blueprint has been delayed now by more than 12 months due to the change in the Government’s planning policy. There is a sudden change in the National Planning Policy Framework(NPFF) which could change the number of planned houses. It is due to this uncertainty the joint City Council work has been put on the back burner, but now we have good news. We now have the official confirmation that the proposed draft plan will happen in autumn 2019 and the submission of the final plan will happen by 2020. In a joint statement, the City Councils said they are working on a sound and robust plan which will be accepted by the NPFF. They also assured that all the factors pertaining to the housing needs and supplies will be taken into consideration while arriving at the plan. The revision in NPFF recommends a standard formula to be applied for calculating the number of houses. Before this revision in the formula was announced the previous calculation was at 199 hectares of land and 27800 homes to be constructed between 2013 and 2033. The previous plan also had some controversial proposals which were opposed by few stakeholders and public. Those objections were brought to the notice of the City Council and they are giving it their due consideration. Hopefully, the new plan, whenever it is ready, won’t have any problems.
There is a new section in the NPFF which suggests people should have access to free open space and recreational facilities which were ignored in the previous proposal. Dave Brugess of Save Berryhill Fields Action Group has communicated this issue to the joint Council and they will be making amends to accommodate the new rules and recommendations of the NPFF. Right now the joint City Council has not tasted success in forming the planning committee but they will be able to confirm this by December 7th. They are hopeful to arrive at a revised number of houses using the new formula at the earliest and they are fully committed to the new housing policy. Once the blueprint is ready for the new housing proposal it will not only increase the real estate market of the locality but also bring in a lot of direct and indirect employment.
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