Blackburn to use affordable housing cash to fix flood issues
The council’s planning team is asking members to grant permission to redirect £400,000 earmarked for off-site discounted homes to pay for “sizeable drainage improvements” close to Barratt and Taylor Wimpey’s 450-home scheme at Broken Stone Road.
A Section 106 agreement signed by the national housebuilders following approval of the scheme in 2019 proposed contributions totalling £3.5m – £750,000 towards affordable housing, £2.5m for education and £350,000 for green infrastructure.
Now, the council wants to take some of the cash earmarked for affordable housing and use it to bring an end to what it describes as “frequent and significant episodes of flooding…along Broken Stone Road and Horden Rake caused by new housing development”.
“Reducing the affordable housing contribution is considered a reasonable and proportionate approach to securing the necessary funding”, a council report states.
The report also points out that affordable housing has recently been secured at Kingswood’s Green Hills development nearby.
The Barratt and Taylor Wimpey site, as well as Kingswood’s and another from Story Homes, all fall within the council’s 135-acre Gib Lane masterplan.
Using money for social housing to underwrite a problem on a private Barret and Taylor site? If this is the case then it seems that Blackburn’s priorities are somewhat askew. Of, maybe,the original site was not fit for use and the Council just crossed their fingers and hopes for the best. Either way it seems those in need of social housing yet again find themselves in the wrong queue.
By Bewildered Mancunian
Is it just me or should this not have been negotiated with the developers prior to commencing construction that they should stump up for this?
By Anonymous
im typically pro development but its outrageous that the developers arent paying for this
By Anonymous
It sounds as though the Barrat and Taylor Wimpey drainage teams didn’t get it right. What a shame (or is that what a disgrace?) that their inadequate works may now impact on affordable housing provision.
By Anonymous
The council propose to divert affordable housing money to repair brokenstone road drainage which should be from the highways budget. The road has had drainage issues for at least the last 4 years and as usual the council have failed to act. Its not the responsibility of the developers its just the council, not smart enough to write it into the development funding at the right time. Buyers will be paying about £8000 levy on each new homes to cover the S106 levies for the whole site, should Greenfields estate also be paying a contribution?
By Anonymous
If new development has caused an increase in flooding then the developers should pay…not the community, the affordable housing element should remain.
What went wrong with sustainable drainage systems for those developments?
By Anonymous