Bromsgrove housing trust wades into row over garage site proposals

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BROMSGROVE District Housing Trust (bdht) chiefs also came out this week to speak up in favour of the proposals for the three garage sites.

Following last Friday's front page story about the proposals, bdht chairman John Morgan claimed that, currently, there was a complete mismatch in the supply and demand of all forms of housing across Bromsgrove district.

“While councillors are arguing over small developments on our garage sites, it is likely that families are going to be in bed and breakfast accommodation over Christmas.

“Coun Hollingworth states none of these developments should have been approved by the planning committee.

"It is our view that this is completely wrong.

"All three sites met Bromsgrove District Council’s planning policy and were recommended for approval by the council’s own professional planning experts.

"They are on ‘brown field’ sites and meet both local and national policies."

He added bdht was appealing the Alvechurch decision, claiming he felt it contradicted the approvals given to the other sites.

The housing trust, which manages the accommodation list for the district council, said it had 3,341 affordable properties, but at least another 3,500 individuals and families waiting for homes.

He said, previously, bdht had carefully managed its own temporary accommodation, enabling Bromsgrove's homeless to be rehoused. But, he added, that was now at breaking point.

“We are pleased to see Coun Hollingworth accepts the need for more affordable housing.

"But while he says it shouldn’t be at any cost, we are really struggling to understand what the BDC housing strategy is."

Mike Brown, Chief Executive at bdht, claimed the situation appeared dysfunctional.

"We are having developments rejected and delayed often on what appear to be spurious, non-planning criteria, while all the time, more and more families are finding where they live less and less secure.

"Some are even finding themselves homeless."

He concluded by saying larger strategic developments needed to be supported to meet housing needs.

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