HOUSING

Affordable Homes and community appropriate development

Outline planning approvals must account for the needs of the community they appear in. They must reflect the local need for affordable homes and mitigate the impact that areas of tarmac and building have on flooding. Local services must be sufficiently upgraded to account for the population influx.

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No developments without adequate Pedestrian and Cycle access

County Council is responsible for the footpath & cycle links and crossings needed to make new developments safe for residents and prevent developments from being isolated blocks cut off from town. We believe you shouldn’t need a car to live a full life. As councillor I would work to ensure that new developments aren’t approved without adequate links, and that pedestrian and cycle links to existing residential areas are improved.

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Insulation, energy efficiency and building standards

Green Party policy is to fund a programme of renovation to bring homes up to better insulation and energy efficiency standards. Much of this comes down to central government policy (funding) or District Council (planning approvals). However, County Council oversees many of its own buildings and developments and as a councillor I would push for these to be raised in standard. Insulation upgrade costs can pay back through reduced energy use, but as I’ve found through renovating my own home, also by reducing damp and rot and therefore maintenance costs in the long run, and improving the health and liveability of buildings for users.

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I've written a 'housing' blog post which goes into some of the above points in more detail.