HARAH report on Affordable Housing in Compton

• Access to affordable housing is a real concern for many people in rural areas, rising house prices and few homes for affordable rent often result in valuable members of the community having to leave their village.
• The affordable housing built by the Hampshire Alliance for Rural Affordable Housing (HARAH) will be specifically for people with a local connection to Compton and Shawford.
• 27 applicants with a local connection to the parish are on Winchester’s housing waiting list and 17 of these have a local connection of more than three years.
• 10 sites have been identified which have some potential for a small affordable housing scheme in Compton and Shawford Parish. The results of the Parish Community Exhibition show that Site 11 (Stoney Drove Farm Buildings) is the site favoured by residents.
• A major concern that residents have regarding a residential scheme in Compton is that they do not want a development to add to the existing traffic and parking problem. Site 11 is outside Compton Street and the cul-de-sacs in the village so a residential scheme here will not add to this problem.
• Site 11 does have some constraints and further investigation is required to see whether these constraints can be overcome:
  • Policy CE24 discourages the conversion of farm buildings but this may be overturned if it can be demonstrated that all reasonable efforts to secure the re-use for economic development has been unsuccessful
  • Policy HE17 allows the change of use of redundant agricultural buildings which have an historic or architectural interest; however, economic re-use would be first encouraged. As such, the conversion of these buildings for affordable housing maybe acceptable as an exception to policy subject to high quality design
  • Site 11 is by a dangerous junction for children and others walking to school. There is however, an underpass which connects this site to the part of the village where the school is
  • If Site 11 is supported and constraints can be overcome, it will take at least three years before the homes actually get built due to the many stages involved in delivering a small affordable housing scheme.
• The 2nd and 3rd sites favoured by residents were Site 5 (site at the end of Martins Field) and Site 4 (North East of Attwoods Drove). These sites have potential but they also have some constraints; respondents have highlighted their concerns with these sites stating that a development would bring increased traffic and parking problems. These sites however, do have potential to bring benefits to the community as additional parking spaces could be allocated to help with the existing parking problem.
•  The Parish Council, Winchester City Council and HARAH would like to thank residents for attending the Community Exhibition in November and taking time to fill out the consultation forms.

1.1 The Compton and Shawford community consultation event was organised by Compton and Shawford Parish Council in partnership with members of Hampshire Alliance for Rural Affordable Housing (HARAH), which includes Winchester City Council, Hyde Housing Association and the Rural Housing Enablers (RHE) based at Community Action Hampshire.

The event had three main purposes to:

1. give residents the opportunity to comment and score a list of sites which have been identified as having some potential for a scheme of 8-10 affordable housing units for local people of the parish
2. explain why an affordable housing scheme for local people in Compton and Shawford is needed
3. provide an opportunity for local people to register their housing need with Winchester City Council on the Hampshire Home Choice Scheme.

1.2 The Parish Council wanted to involve the entire parish community at a very early stage in the decision-making process. Winchester County Council advised that there was a local housing need of 27 households. The Parish Council wanted to explore the entire community’s views on how this need could be met, should the overall community decide that it wishes to do so.

1.3 The Parish Council and HARAH wish to emphasise, yet again, that no decision has yet been made and nor will it be without due consultation. The exhibition on 30th November was the first stage in a parish-wide consultation exercise. The aim of the event was to give all those interested the opportunity to make their views known. The Parish Council made it patently clear that it is not going to impose any action unless it has a clear mandate to do so from the community that it serves. The Parish Council is firmly wedded to its on-going pledge to engage with the community, which explains why the consultation event of the 30th November was held at such an early stage in the project. The Parish Council is acutely aware of the need to ensure that the process remains open and transparent at all times, with all parties having effective channels of communication.

1.4 Over 110 people attended during the four hours allocated. The exhibition made a very good start in obtaining the community’s views.