Object

Representation ID: 66931

Received: 03/07/2014

Respondent: Andrew Cliffe

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

The plans for the necessary social infrastructure are not ready. Assumptions are made in the Plan that schools, medical centres, hospital beds and other social infrastructure will be provided. We are currently aware that school issues have not been automatically agreed with the County Council. Similarly the successful conclusion of other facilities cannot be assumed.
There is a serious funding gap for necessary infrastructure. Work done by save Warwick indicates that there is a there is a shortfall between the cost of infrastructure and the funding available in the region of 50 million pounds.
-The Council is considered not to have published a meaningful local plan viability assessment at the time the representation was submitted, at the end of January 2014 campaign groups were provided with information on the work done to date by officers which indicated that they were far from being able to show the full costs of the plan at that stage.
-In the absence of this essential evidence Save Warwick have produced their own assessment which is set out in an appendix to their representation. It shows a significant shortfall in receipts over the potential costs.
-Save Warwick Estimate that the infrastructure ' bill' will amount to something over £215 million, and all things considered that there will be a shortfall in required income over costs in the region of £30 million which is going to have to be met by council taxpayers.
-It is estimated that the County Council (as a major provider of roads and services) could be faced with a shortfall of around £85 million.
Save Warwick have forwarded three solutions to the funding shortfall scenario that they believe is inevitable
1 - To economise on infrastructure (which would mean more overcrowded schools and roads) - this is considered unacceptable.
2- Load the additional costs on the taxpayer - an average of an extra £500 or so on the tax bills of every household in Warwick District.
The final alternative is to change the plan - which is what Save Warwick prefers.

The Council should produce and publish their own up to date viability study so that it can be interrogated and provide satisfaction that infrastructure requirements are deliverable. Without this the Local Plan must be assumed to be unsound.

To conclude / summarise
The Plan does not conform to the NPPF or Planning Practice Guidance. The Council has not published sufficient detail in its financial viability assessments to justify its claims that the plan is viable. Furthermore, assessments undertaken by others demonstrate that it is highly likely that the shortfall in funding will cost Council tax payers upwards of £30 million.