News Stories for March 2000
29th March 2000 – HHP appeals against decision to refuse planning permission for new green housing development (FISKERTON)Last summer, The Hockerton Housing Project was refused for planning permission for:
We are currently in the process of appealing against this decision. You can see below our response to the particular reasons for refusal. For more information about the proposed development click here. If you would like to write a letter of support, please send to:
Response to reasons for refusal
03a There is a demonstrable need for affordable housing in the area. All new residential development within a 5-mile radius is targeted at relatively high-income earners, and selling in the £150k- £300k range. Anything at all in a 5 mile radius [of a similar size to the proposed development] selling below £80k, is considerably below current building standards and probably requires a fair bit of work on it. There are many people who live and work locally who cannot afford to buy locally. Typically they rent low quality properties in the private sector in the absence of available council property. Moving out the area involves longer journeys and more expense to get to work. 03b Whilst the application site is not directly adjacent to the main built up area of the village and is therefore not a suitable site from the LPA view, it is a particularly good site for the many reasons outlined in the written submission. 03c the applicants are particularly concerned with ensuring future affordability of the proposed housing particularly as the selling price will be considerably less than market value. The applicants are anxious to avoid profiteering on first resale, as this would be contrary to the objectives of the project. The applicants had hoped to have an opportunity to discuss the options of maintaining affordability with the LPA during the application period. The LPA did not raise the issue. The development is specifically targeted at lower income groups prepared to make regular use of public transport. The retention of the car parking area by the applicants for rental only to the residents is in effect a reduction in value and therefore cost of the houses. This is exactly the same principle that housing associations use on their buy/ rent options on social housing. The advantage with the applicant’s proposal is that rental payments are only payable if the residents use motor vehicles. If they do not the outgoing of occupancy are significantly reduced.
05 The technical issues of access to the site and visibility could be readily resolved through consultation with the LPA.
17th March 2000 – HHP features in OU videoHHP are one of the case studies for a video produced for a new Open University course – ‘Working with Our Environment – Technology for a Sustainable Future’. The video, ‘Green Homes’ includes, in addition to HHP, other local projects; The Autonomous House, Millenium Green, and Newark & Sherwood Energy Agency. The producer of the video recently wrote to us saying, "…we have presented the different projects as different threads of a broader tapestry of sustainable housing in the Nottinghamshire area. We were concerned to have an appropriate mix of the technology with the broader social aspects of aiming for sustainable living. The course team were pleased to have such a diverse range of initiatives based in the same area." If you would like to view a copy of the video, please contact us and we will try and arrange it.
14th March – What have a Pochard and a Reed bunting got in common?Both are species of bird observed during March at HHP not seen before on site. The Pochard is a diving duck and was probably a wintering visit from Russia/Northern Europe. The Reed Bunting seen this morning in the reed bed is a sparrow sized bird that is adapted to feed and breed near water and reeds (hence it’s name!!). Both were obviously attracted by the lake in front of the houses. It is very reassuring to observe an increasingly varied biodiversity on site, one of the projects aims. The lake is not only providing an all round base for birds such as coot, moorhen, mallard, little grebe and tufted duck, but also a useful pitstop for occasional visitors such as waders, geese, kingfisher and swans. In addition to the birdlife, the lake is home to many other forms of fauna and flora. Currently frogs and toads are spawning, Carp waking up after a quiet winter and the numerous reeds beginning to shoot.
13th March 2000 – HHP to be awarded Government grant to promote sustainable livingA project scheme developed by HHP was among 142 environmental protection schemes which had a £4.2 million Government cash boost last week. Under the Environmental Action Fund (EAF) awards for 2000-1, 45 new and 97 continuing regional and national projects will be supported, encouraging all parts of society - including women and ethnic minorities - to ‘do their bit’ for the environment. The project to be funded by EAF, THE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY – Working in partnership with other organisations to promote sustainable communities - builds on HHP’s current activities to provide a co-ordinated package of services to individuals and small groups to help them establish new sustainable communities. From the very outset the Project has been recognized as a possible model for sustainable living. The massive interest that it has attracted indicates that there is a desire from a significant proportion of the public to seek new ways of living that reduce their impact on the environment. In the last two years the project has attracted over 2,000 enquiries. A significant proportion of these enquiries has been from individuals and groups looking to set up similar developments/communities. However many lack the knowledge to enable them to take the next steps. Setting up a sustainable community involves a new understanding of planning, legal and financial issues, as well as new building techniques and technologies. Living in a sustainable community involves many new attributes that are not commonplace, including new skills and ways of interacting with others. From the large number of such individuals/ groups that we have met, many have struggled to realize their goals, because this knowledge is difficult to access. Their feedback directly to us is that they are seeking this information, but finding it difficult to take the next steps. Some of the key outputs of the project will be: -
The EAF helps English voluntary groups promote sustainable living and environmental protection with grants of up to £75,000 a year. Announcing the awards, Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, said: "These awards will fund 142 innovative projects to promote sustainable development, improve our quality of life and protect our planet for future generations. "As the Government’s ‘are you doing your bit?’ campaign stresses, we all need to play a part to protect our environment - every individual action, however small, can make a real difference. These projects will help educate and enable individuals so their actions help rather than harm the planet." If you would like to get involved with this project by completing a questionnaire or being interviewed we would be pleased to hear from you.
2nd March 2000 - Local green development opens show homeHHP was well represented today at the official opening of the 'Millennium Green' show home - part of a development of low energy houses being built by Collingham based company, Gusto Construction. HHP was involved at the very beginning of the plans to build these homes. Steve Wright, Managing Director of Gusto Construction, was initially motivated by hearing one of HHP project members, Nick Martin, speak at a conference on sustainable housing. HHP later provided advice on how to integrate some of the principles at Hockerton into this scheme. We were very pleased to be involved and applaud Gusto Construction for taking on the construction industry's apathy at incorporating more energy efficient homes so effectively. We hope this will lead to a wider acceptance and adoption of much higher energy efficient standards for future homes. To find out more about this development, why not visit http://www.gustohomes.com/ and for more information about HHP's consultancy/advice services, click here.
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