“Yorspace” – the organisation trying to build “communal homes” on the Lowfields site – have announced that they still haven’t achieved their fund raising target.
Doubtful if anyone thinks this is “great news”
For the second time in 6 months, they are extending the crowd funding deadline – this time to the end of January 2020.
This will add to the overall development timetable for the whole site.
There are concerns that the (minimal) play and open space provisions on the development will not be available when new residents move in.
The main Council development is not now expected to start on site until the new year.
The playground is scheduled to be used as a building compound by Yorspace – shades of the situation a few hundred metres away where the Kingsway all weather pitch has become a builder compound.
There are other similarities with Lowfields as at both sites sports facilities have been lost without adequate replacements being provided.
Unfortunately the current spell of wet weather is slowing progress on local building projects.
Proposed new football pitches near Sim Balk Lane are a little damp at preesntWork on the new disabled centre on Ascot Way is progressingNo sign of progress at Lowfields. Residents had been promised a revised development timetable following delays with the care home contract, Yorspce etc but none has been forthcoming There are still hopes that the bungalows on Newbury Avenue will be completed before the end of the year. They are currently three months behind schedule.
According to sources within the York Council, the the Office for National Statistics new population projections published yesterday, may have major implications for York Local Plan assumptions.
. The new projections have substantially reduced population growth expectations.
The 2018-based population projections show growth over the next 10 years (2019-2029) is expected to be 31% lower than predicted four years ago in the 2014-based projections.
This equates to 1,270,000 persons and would have serious implications on housing need across the country.
Although of course the government decided to ignore this evidence last time around, and may do so again once these are translated into household projections.
The majority of growth (57%) over the next ten years is expected to in those aged over 75. This is an increase from 50% in the 2014-based projections. This will have implications on the type of housing being planned for as well a potential labour force deficit in the longer term.
The draft York Local Plan claims that nearly 1000 new homes a year would be needed over the next 20 years.
The figure is an exaggeration.
It increasingly looks like thefigures agreed for the 2011 draft of the Local Plan (575 additional homes a year) were spot on.
In the meantime green spaces are being developed unnecessarily. There is plenty of brownfield land available to satisfy demand
Shocking that the Council hasn’t realised that its house building programme should concentrate on providing flats and bungalows aimed at older people.
Lowfields playing field has been wrecked
In turn this would have freed up larger homes for families.
Sadly its probably too late now to be of any help on sites like Lowfields which is an ideal site for older residents being within walking distance of good local amenities. .
The new figures may also explain why some sites that are ready for development – for example the land adjacent to the Barbican – continue to be derelict.
The public examination of the draft York Plan starts in a few days time.
The UK’s first-ever council-led development of custom-build plots with some specifically designated for first time buyers, will welcome bids from buyers from 1 November.
The six custom-build plots are part of a larger mixed-use development of 140 new homes at Lowfield Green by City of York Council.
The development is controversial as it has seen a valued green open space – used for sporting activities – built on. Residents – who formed their own action group to oppose the plans – are also concerned about delays in the overall development timetable.
Two of the plots have been restricted for first time buyers only, as they offer a more affordable option, and are designed to help people on to the property ladder. This supports the council’s pledge to offer a breadth of options to a range of lower-income households and is in addition to shared ownership of homes from the open market as well as council-owned homes. 40% of all the homes at Lowfield Green will be affordable and Homes England helped fund work done to prepare the site for development.
Idealised image of self build homes
Custom-build plots are serviced with all required utilities – electricity, water and telephone cable – as well as with road access to enable buyers to get on site. With outline planning permission already secured, construction can begin immediately after detailed planning has been granted.
All plots are large enough for a detached home of between three and five bedrooms with an integrated garage if needed. They also benefit from south-facing back gardens and uninterrupted views of the new village green to the front. This former secondary school site has been sensitively master planned around a new green open space to contribute towards creating an attractive new place to live in the city.
To support this innovative self-build project, City of York Council has engaged Custom Build Homes – the UK’s leading enabler of custom build housing – to deliver aspects of the development process including; consultancy, pre-agreed mortgage lending as well as leading the sales and marketing for the site.
Bidding for all 6 plots opens on 1 November and all bids need to be in for 29 November. Prospective purchasers will have the opportunity to view the plots, with the first viewings to be arranged by appointment only, on the morning of Saturday 9 November. All bids will be assessed and, if no suitable applications have been received by first time buyers, the allocated plots may be offered to other applicants. More detail is available by visiting lowfieldgreen.custombuildhomes.co.uk
Erection of single storey extension
extending 4.464 metres beyond the rear wall of the original house, with a
height to the eaves of 2.5 metres and a total height of 3.5 metres.
These applications refer mainly to Health and Safety plans. In addition they indicate the phasing of the development, location of site compound/car parking and proposed access routes. (see drawings below)
Local residents in Lowfields are objecting to plans to remove the railings which protect their garden boundaries.
The plan by the Council to replace the railings was first revleaed on tyhis site at the weekend.
According to their Facebook site, the Lowfields Residents Action Group is leading a campaign to get the Council to consult neighbours on their plans.
Their main concerns are about the appearance of a new fence, its impact on the natural environment, damage to existing landscaping and the money which would be wasted if the existing railings – which are in good condition – were junked.
Separately the Council has announced today that it will commence construction work on the site in two weeks time.
It is writing to residents telling them about a consultation meeting which is taking place next week and which will involve the Wates building contractors
The Residents Group has responded saying, “We think this is pretty short notice for a consultation event.
The letter includes an evasive reference to “Yorspace” who we understand are still struggling to find funding for their communal living site.
It also pointedly doesn’t admit that the Council have failed to find a developer for their proposed elderly persons care home.
Nothing more either, on the public buildings (Health Centre and Police station) which seem less and less likely now to happen.
This means that there is no chance of building work on the whole site being finished within 2 years”.
This application contains a large number of details changes to the Lowfield plans. Some were submitted as long ago as August but have not been subject to local consultation. Many are minor in nature or will have little impact on the existing local community. Some are more far reaching including a proposal to remove the existing perimeter metal railings and replace with a wooden boarded fence.. Leaving aside the additional costs involved in such a proposal, the railings are valued by some neighbouring house owners as they offer good security. They also allow wild animals such as hedgehogs to move freely around the neighbourhood. We think that individual neighbours should have been consulted on these changes.
According to a notice published earlier today, the York Council has received no suitable tenders for the provision of a care home at its Lowfieldssite.
The Council has already invested heavily in providing infrastructure, including roads, at the site. They promised a 30-month building timetable inresponse to concerns expressed by residents in 2016 who feared that the nuisance caused by building works could drag on for a decade.
The failure to find a development partner for the care home, together with delays on the communal housing section, means that there is no end in sight for the development work.
The delay noticesays, ” This item has been withdrawn because, following a tender process, officers have been unable to appoint a developer. Officers need to consult the market and consider the options before the Executive can make a decision”.
According to the Councils Elderly Care programme, which was last discussed in 2018, work on building the care home was due to start next month. Officials at that they said that they were confident on getting a good deal for the site following “soft market” testing.
Now a delay on the start of building work on the home of over 12 months seems inevitable.
There have been similar delays at Oakhaven on York Road where work is now over 3 years behind schedule.
Delays also dog the Haxby Hall redevelopment site on the other side of the City.
Despite the delays in providing new care homes, existing facilities have been closed. Some like Willow House next to the Bar walls remain empty.
Ironically, the original plan to provide a, mainly private sector funded, care village on the site of the Lowfield’s school had been developed in 2010 to the point where work was scheduled to start. The scheme was shelved by the incoming Labour Council and 9 years later there is little to show but some “roads to nowhere” and large spoil heaps.
The site is now has little security. It is attracting children who want to play on the dangerous spoil heaps.
The football pitches have long gone so alternative children’s play facilities are non existent.
Even the Kingsway multi user games area has been turned into a building compound for another development..
The Council is to adopt a pseudonym when it tries to sell any new homes that it builds in York. The decision comes in the wake of research which suggests that many potential buyers regard the Council as a provider of cheap, lower specification homes.
So, the Council will in future market itself as “Shape Homes York”. The revelation comes in a report being considered later this week
The Council’s poor image on housing is easy to understand given the litter and weed infested state of many Council estates. Unnecessary cuts to maintenance regimes have led to a fall in tenants’ satisfaction. This has affected the Councils image more generally.
The report also reveals what is claimed to be a new approach to design and public consultation on the sites that it will develop over the next few years. Around 600 new homes are planned.
Major mistakes were made at Lowfields where bogus promises of a new health centre and police station were included in marketing material. It later turned out that neither was likely to materialise while a proposed elderly persns home has been delayed. Residents became even more hostile towards the council when it was revealed that “replacement” sports pitches (those at Lowfield are being built on) would be provided at a site located some 3 miles away and lacking a public transport link.
The Council plans developments at Askham Bar, Burnholme, Duncombe Barracks, the former Manor School, the former Clifton Without School, and the former Woolnough House sites.
The brownfield (and unused) Askham bar car park site is being slipped down the priority list to allow for early work at Ordnance Lane and Hospital Fields Road.
The Council expects around 40% of the properties it builds to be “affordable”. They will be cross subsidised by market sales by the new “Shape Homes” front organisation. The Council has set up a new department to manage the programme and has recruited a large number of additional administrative staff. The overall cost of the programme is £154 million.
The Council has also published adesign manualwhich they claim indicates how its new homes will look. It includes some high efficiency homes which will have low running costs (Passivhaus)
As the, currently stalled, Lowfield development has revealed, Council propaganda rarely these days accords with reality.
In setting up its own housing building operation, we think that the Council may be overextending itself.
It is still trying to bring to a conclusion the £42 million Community Stadium project, it announced last week that £20 million would be spent on redeveloping a business club at the Guildhall while the first tranche of work on the £1 billion York Central site is due to start later in the year.
& all that from a local authority which doesn’t even have a permanent Chief Executive working for it at present.
