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Bid to solve Whitby housing crisis by building 100s of homes
HUNDREDS of new homes could be built in Whitby within the next three years to combat the town's housing crisis.
More than 300 families are currently waiting to be homed in the town and the situation is reaching crisis point.
Scarborough Council released a list of the sites it wants to build on within the town this week to address the problem before it gets worse.
The sites are land off Byland Road, land off Larpool Lane, land off Helredale Road and land off St Peter's Road.
If they go-ahead, more than 300 homes, including other private developments, could sprout up in Whitby in the next three years.
The plans go before the council's cabinet on Tuesday and, if accepted, they will go to public consultation.
Two council depot sites at West Thorpe and Stakesby Road will also be sold for residential development with 40% of the homes on the land required to be affordable.
The council has acknowledged the loss of green space in Whitby is likely to cause major concern among residents and said it will consult with the public before any decision is made.
There are currently 312 households in Whitby who have an application on the council's housing register and are waiting to be re-homed.
Andy Skelton, the council's head of environmental services said: "There is a desperate need to provide new affordable homes in Whitby to meet the needs of local people.
"The council only has a limited supply of land through which it can do this.
"We want to work with the local community in order to seek their views about where and how new homes should be provided and how the remaining open spaces can be improved."
Land at California Terrace is not on the current list for development, but will be revisited when the new local plan is completed in 2011, and land in Love Lane, Mulgrave Road and Rievaulx Road could also be looked at again in the future.
Private developments in Chubb Hill, Highfield Road, White Leys Road and the NYCC depot are not included in the figures. If all these four go ahead it will add 47 more affordable homes.
In 2003 the council transferred ownership of its homes to Yorkshire Coast Homes, a registered social landlord.
During the period between October 2006 and January 2008, YCH, which owns 716 properties in the town had 58 lettings only 11 of which were family houses.
This, says the council, shows the desperate need for more affordable housing in Whitby.
An Affordable Housing Task Group report released last year stated: “The sheer demand for affordable housing means a radical and bold
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approach is required if the council is not only to meet this [affordable housing] target but also avoid a housing crisis."
The council hopes to build 15 affordable houses at Larpool Lane, between 50 and 60 at Helredale Road and three homes and two flats at Byland Road.
A play area at Byland Road, which was given over 20,000 funding for improvements earlier this year, would be retained alongside the development.
Yorkshire Coast Homes wants to demolish its existing 24 one-bedroom flats at St Peter's Road and replace it with better quality housing. This could only be done it says if they can find accommodation for the residents currently living in St Peter's Road. If the cabinet accept the report the council will announce the dates of drop in consultations in Whitby, possible as soon as next week.
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Weather for Whitby
Thursday 24 May 2012
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