Page 365 - All files for Planning Inspectorate update

location for residents of Ashurst Wood.

5.3 Housing

Objectives

 To ensure an appropriate mix of housing for local needs, including affordable
housing

 To identify specific sites for housing to help meet local needs.

Background and Intent

Ashurst Wood is an attractive place to live due to the surrounding AONB countryside
combined with accessibility to larger towns, travel hubs and employment areas. There
are many long-term residents of the village, including families going back several
generations.

There is a growing elderly population and house prices are higher than the national
average. Older residents do not wish to move from the village, but a number would
like to move to smaller homes that are more suitable for their circumstances. As a
result, some remain in larger homes that could be more suitable for family
accommodation.

There is a long-standing need for affordable housing for local people, particularly for
young adults wishing to live independently and for young families.

Consultations have shown that residents want Ashurst Wood to remain a village and
that its character should not be harmed by inappropriate new housing development,
particularly that which might add to traffic and parking problems around the village.

There is limited space for new development within the built up area boundary as
many of the roads are narrow with no pavements and many houses within the area
have inadequate parking facilities, leading to on-street parking.

Residents value the countryside and wish to protect it from inappropriate
development. 92% of respondents to the Residents’ Survey in 2013 said that new
homes should be built on previously developed land wherever possible.

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