Issue and Options 2023

Stockton Parish Council wishes to comment as follows on the SWLP draft. As a village it was classed as a Category 2 Local Service Village in the Core Strategy with an allocation of new housing that has been exceeded with 111 times built in the period 2011-2022. Due to the timings of permissions that were granted before the Core Strategy was adopted virtually no CIL payment were made by the developers that ended up benefitting the community. In fact only two small payments totalling approximately £5,000 in respect of individual houses have accrued. During this period approximately 250 extra inhabitants have been added to the parish population but no resources were made available to improve infrastructure such as the village hall, sports and play facilities for adults and children, water supply and drainage, sewers, road safety, public transport, etc. It is believed that extra staff were recruited at Stockton Primary School, presumably through the “per capita” allowance. Fortunately the Parish Council is able to say that the increase in population has been successfully assimilated into parish life and has probably strengthened community activity with fresh blood. The view of the parish community and the parish council up until now has been to resist any further developments of more that the odd home. However, with the current shortage of new homes leading to higher prices that preclude less well-off families or first time buyers, that parish council believes it is now opportune to revisit that view, particularly in the light of the Housing Needs Survey carried out by WRCC in July 2021. The council would be prepared to support new developments subject to the following conditions:- a maximum of 100 properties over the plan period to 2050 with developments spread over a wide timeframe to avoid a sudden large influx of new villagers. a proportion of 35% of these to be affordable homes for rent or shared ownership. significant resources being made available to improve village facilities such as the village hall, an updated children’s playing field, a bus turnaround island off Napton Road that would move the bus route from the congestion on Post Office Lane and High Street. suitable improvements to local infrastructure such as water, drainage, sewage, public transport.