Worthing council leader hits out at government house building targets
Kevin Jenkins has called them "unrealistic"
The leader of Worthing Borough Council has criticised the Government's house building targets for the town, calling them "unrealistic and a threat to our green spaces".
Councillor Kevin Jenkins was responding to figures which show the local authority has given permission for 784 new homes in the last three years, although government targets suggest it should be closer to 2300 to meet the area's needs.
The Government sets down what is called an Objective Assessment of Housing Needs that Councils have to adopt. Those authorities not reaching 95 per cent of this target - Worthing’s figure is 35 per cent - are then being penalised by having their powers to reject developments weakened.
Cllr Jenkins says the figure is impossible to meet if the Council wants to keep the right balance between new homes, and preserving quality of life and green spaces in the borough.
"We have always said these housing targets are unfair on places like Worthing and others on the South Coast,’ he said, ‘We are hemmed in by the sea and the South Downs and there simply isn’t the space to build this amount of new homes.
"I’m angry that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities refuses to see sense on this issue. It imposes completely unrealistic targets on us and then, when we can’t reach them, ties one hand behind our back when we seek to control development by weakening our planning powers."
He tells us conversations with government officials are ongoing to try and resolve the issue.