From now on... (Debate)

Thu 11 Jul, 22:32 (last edited on Thu 11 Jul, 22:38)

Perhaps England should adopt the policy on second homes used in Wales.  Local authorities can charge up to 300% council tax on homes which are not permanently occupied.  In some communities a majority of homes are only used occasionally affecting local provision such as schools and businesses.  Young people growing up in these areas cannot afford to rent or buy locally.

Thu 11 Jul, 17:44 (last edited on Thu 11 Jul, 21:34)

Also force Airbnb owners to sell, and those who have second homes here but hardly ever use them, or engage with the local community.  Why people have second homes that they either don't live in at all, or for only a small proportion of the year, is beyond my comprehension.

House prices would drop (I think, although I'm not an economist) and I hope that would enable more people to buy property in our lovely town.  

How this can be driven by West Oxon DC or OCC, I know not.

Wed 10 Jul, 21:06

Rod

NIMBY - not in my back yard.  The opposition of residents resisting something undesirable in their neighbourhood.

Tue 9 Jul, 19:27

Yesterday Rachel Reeves picked out land near Worcester Parkway Station as a preferred site for one of Labour's first 4 new towns: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0j9916p

Liz Leffman refers to this in her earlier post. 

This means, I think, that the prospect of Labour funding development of the North Cotswold Line is quite high. But what is also needed is better trains from Worcester Parkway into Birmingham New Street and other intermediate Birmingham Stations, as well as to Cheltenham, Bristol and also to over to the east.  

Tue 9 Jul, 16:25 (last edited on Tue 9 Jul, 16:38)

If nothing else, glad to see my little reverie has prompted a return to normal….

Liz, wish you luck on the rail issue – can you add in the link to Brum via Stratford?  Goodness, a Labour government being pressured by other progressive parties – maybe dreams can come true!

Ah planning.  I became a Planning Inspector in 1991.  I wish I had a pound for every time I’ve heard a politician blaming the planning system and promising to reform it.

Mike, I think I heard a new Treasury minister say yesterday they weren’t going to build all over AONBs etc – or words to that effect.  As ever the devil will be in the detail (and hot off the press, they are to issue proposed amendments to the NPPF for consultation by the end of the month) – but more resources in the process is definitely a good move to speed it up.  Though not sure where they’ll suddenly find an extra 300 competent planning officers (just in case, they couldn’t afford me!).  

Emily, NIMBY in my experience is an expression often used by ignorant politicians and journalists and avaricious developers to belittle people who may have legitimate objections to a development.  And objectors don’t make the decisions so aren’t the right targets.  

 Planning is about balancing often conflicting needs and interests.  For all its faults, it has somehow enabled us to retain a sense of our ‘green and pleasant land’ despite an ever growing population.  It just needs to be done properly - which includes building the right housing in the right places (how long have you got?). 

 Helen, let’s give them a chance!  Of course they won’t get everything right and it will take a long time to repair the damage but so far, at least it feels like there are grown ups back in charge instead of those squabbling children….

Mon 8 Jul, 22:57 (last edited on Mon 8 Jul, 23:00)

I saw no mention of repealing/changing the 1961 Land Compensation Act. Such a move would cut the cost (hugely) of building houses, including where compulsary purchase is part of the equation.

Mon 8 Jul, 20:32 (last edited on Mon 8 Jul, 20:32)

People were fed up of the old government- so despite our first past the post system managed to get rid of them and give Labour a thumping majority despite their share of the vote being pretty much unchanged. 
Expectations of what the new government can achieve to change the NHS,  migration, employment rights and salaries, education, housing and cost of living for families is so high that I fear that most people are destined to be disappointed.

 
I am fascinated by what the government after this one is going to look like. Has the 2 party status quo been changed forever or will it become even more fragmented?

Mon 8 Jul, 16:52

A first step that costs nothing would be to scrap right to buy to protect the social housing we already have.

Mon 8 Jul, 14:25

Has Ms Reeves - or any other Labour politician - said anything in the past year about housebuilding in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty? I can't find a single example.

So however much many people in Charlbury may need more houses to built, the overwhelming likelihood is that they'll only be built here if they're too expensive for most. And NIMBY-bashing Charlbury supporters of Labour's building programme will, by 2029, have been literally NIMBYs themselves. Deliriously happy about new houses - but only those built in the backyards of Woodstock and Witney. 

Mon 8 Jul, 14:20 (last edited on Mon 8 Jul, 15:23)

Spending money does not make a high court judge (or three) reject a valid planning application in the same way that spending money does not prevent a high court judge (or three) rejecting an invalid one

Mon 8 Jul, 12:11

Things I would like to see happen within this parliament (in addition to Rod's hopes!):

1. A law to allow us to choose which water company supplies/bills us, just as we can for electricity and gas, and to tax the water companies proportionally to the amount of water pollution they are responsible for. 

2. A law to outlaw utility companies from charging increased rates to those who do *not* allow them free access to their bank accounts.

3. Annual windfall taxes on all banks' profits, and some kind of legislation to control branch closures.

I could think of plenty more, but those could all be comparatively simply implemented.

And yes, the "smoking ruin" comment was delicious!

Mon 8 Jul, 11:42

But seriously.....the fact that Rachel Reeves has announced that Worcestershire Parkway will be a strategic housing site makes it even more important that we see improvements on the Cotswold Line and I will be taking a case to the rail minister with my Worcestershire colleagues as soon as we can

Mon 8 Jul, 10:23

... all the trains will run on time and be uncrowded, the national debt will be cleared within this parliament, we'll hit net zero by 2030, the rivers will flow clean and pure by 2027, there'll be an amnesty on the asylum seekers and legal routes established, peace will come to Gaza and Ukraine, Trump will lose to Harris ... and then I woke up.

But didncha just love Chris Mason's description of the Conservative Party this morning as a "smoking ruin"!