Who pays for the support required?

I REFER to recent letters from Coun Jarvis on consultation, and our independent councillors on housing need.

Given the housing needs assessment tells us that in excess of 100 per cent of the proposed new housing in the county would need to be affordable, and that developers are also expected to pay for roads, sewage plant etcetera and also contribute to community schemes in lieu of building to zero carbon standards (according to Bill Wiggin), in what way does the evidence base support the continuation of the proposed development of mostly market housing?

If the projected ratios of affordable housing within new developments are accepted then we would need between four and six times the number of new houses in total (call it 70,000 to 100,000) to provide for the existing local need.

In the evidence base we are told that speculators have already paid high prices in hope for at least some of the land in consideration, and I note that this matter is taken into consideration when calculating the proportion of new estate housing which is to be contributed as affordable.

Since when was it the duty of Herefordshire taxpayers and their elected representatives to underwrite poor commercial decisions by speculators?

Every new house built for market, and sold to a retiree from the affluent regions (600 per year on a ten-year average according to the Office for National Statistics) brings an additional burden to the economically active population, adding to the demand for more minimum wage workers in care and support services in the long term.

Where are these workers expected to live and how are they expected to reach their workplace once car use becomes routinely unaffordable?

As for the consultation process, may I ask Coun Jarvis to provide full demographic details of all respondents to the various stages of the LDF process?

The quoted numbers appear to be too small to constitute a representative sample, but I am willing to be proved wrong on the actual data.

For a consultation process to have any validity it must meet fundamental criteria for participation and impact.

From what I can see at present Herefordshire Council’s process appears to fail even the most basic level of validity according to UN sustainable development rules, let alone those required by UK planning legislation.

PETER LINNELL, Eardisland, Herefordshire.