New homes set to be bumped for car park
Bryan Copland • Published 21 Jun 2012 09:19
18 Comments
A VACANT Dunbar town centre site allocated for 24 affordable homes may instead be turned into a car park - leading one town councillor to accuse ruling politicians of having "strange priorities".
The former Hughes Garage site at Abbeylands, off High Street, was bought by East Lothian Council as part of a £200,000 project under the Town Centre Regeneration Fund.
A report presented to councillors last September stated that the site would "enable a future affordable housing development that will bring new people to live in the town centre and support its economy".
Ward councillor Norman Hampshire (Labour) called at the time for the then SNP/Lib Dem-led local authority to rethink the site's use, claiming it should be used to alleviate the town's car parking problems.
Now part of the new Labour/Conservative/independent ruling administration, Mr Hampshire has revealed that the use of the site is currently under review with the intention to install a car park.
He said the projected cost per unit of installing housing there was "a lot higher than the council had anticipated" when updating Dunbar Community Council on the issue on Monday.
Mr Hampshire said: "We are now reviewing the proposal for that site and intentionally it will be a town centre car park. It's still to go through a process to get an agreement on it, but that's what we're looking at at this stage."
But Councillor Paul McLennan, ward member and SNP Group leader, called for Mr Hampshire and Dunbar's Conservative member Michael Veitch to explain "why they think that parking is more important than giving someone a home".
Herbert Coutts, a community councillor, said he felt that "houses for people are better than car parking for cars", adding: "You can't take a decision like that without providing alternative housing."
Mr Hampshire explained: "If we can build on a different site for a lot less per unit then we are as well building on that different site.
"It's a very, very tight site to get into... and once we've looked at all the figures and all the different options [a decision will be made].
"Car parking has been requested from the traders, certainly at that end of the High Street.
"But the 24 houses will have to be built on another site. If we don't build them [elsewhere we will] build them here."
Mr McLennan told the meeting that his view would "always be housing over parking".
Afterwards he added: "I am astounded that Councillors Hampshire and Veitch will deprive 24 families of a new home on Dunbar High Street, 24 families that are currently either in temporary accommodation or sharing with families.
"The previous SNP-led administration secured funding from the Scottish Government to allow us to deliver these much-needed houses, and now the Labour/Tory administration has dashed the hopes of many families in Dunbar.
They will have to explain the reasons why when people attend their surgeries.
"Every week at my surgeries I have families in tears desperately looking for a home; I very rarely have anyone complaining about parking.
"Councillors Hampshire and Veitch will have to explain why they think that parking is more important than giving someone a home - strange priorities from strange bedfellows."
Have your say. Post a comment on this article.
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Steve
Unregistered User
Jun 21, 12:47
Report comment -
paul tallman
Unregistered User
Jun 21, 13:25
Report commentWhat a coincidence!
Could this new car park be anything to do with the recently introduced 'car park tax' the Labour Council have just introduced.
Recommend?
Yes 14
No 1
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Left field thinker
Unregistered User
Jun 21, 15:47
Report commentThere are two underused car parks closer to the heart of town at Co-op/Warehouse sites behind the High Street.
Improve the access through the vennels - works well at Haddington Tesco - and add a few road signs.
Keeps the site for the houses, stores will benefit from passing trade and High Street will be less congested as fewer cars will enter it. Easy!
If you need more car spaces, you could always turn dog poo alley behind the Public WCs at the Pool into around 30 spaces.
Recommend? Yes 18
No 2
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MeTo
Unregistered User
Jun 21, 21:44
Report commentIt seems Cllr Hampshire is saying that houses will be built but not on this site if there are better alternatives available. Can't really see what the SNP are whining about.
Recommend? Yes 7
No 14
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Dunbar Man
Unregistered User
Jun 21, 22:13
Report commentMeTo
There is no land available for housing - its all privately owned - thats the problem
24 families without a home for a few extra car parking spaces- priorities are all wrong
Recommend? Yes 11
No 10
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Dunbar Woman
Unregistered User
Jun 22, 00:10
Report commentWhy cant the private developers of privately owned land who are building houses be made to provide a certain number of Affordable/Council houses as part of every new private development then ????
The Council have the power to grant or refuse Planning Permissions for all building Developments - why not make said Permissions CONDITIONAL that the Developers HAVE to support the local Community in terms of whats needed in that Community - be that Affordable Housing, better roads, bigger schools, better/more community facilities etcetcetc??
There are two controversial Private Developments being proposed at the moment - what are those developers offering to benefit the Dunbar Community at present and into the future? Are they going to build or pay for better road sytems? School extensions? New Community facilities ?
What of new houses already recently built, which are slow to sell? could a deal be struck for ELC to purchase these for Council Housing ?
Town Centre sites should be utilised to make the town centre a more attractive place to visit easily for residents and vistors alike - carparking could be part of that - so could new retail/leisure facilitiies.
Recommend? Yes 7
No 4
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done in dunbar
Unregistered User
Jun 22, 08:23
Report commentThis by the council who refuses to meet its housing and homelessness duties because it doesnt have enough land.
Bit sniffy
Recommend? Yes 11
No 3
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Freddy
Unregistered User
Jun 22, 15:14
Report commentOf course we need extra car parking in town. Far better to build houses with gardens out of town in a better environment fit for families with children. Some people simply don't get it.
Recommend? Yes 11
No 9
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JacquieB
13 posts
Jun 22, 20:11
Report commentOver my 5 years on East Lothian Council the bulk of enquiries from the public were about housing/homelessness. There is a shortage of local authority housing in the ward for local families. The houses at James Court were the first built in Dunbar for over 30 years.
New legislation in 2012 has abolished priority need for housing allocation and thus the pressure on ELC housing stock will be greater.
The Hughes Garage site has long been designated for rented housing - initially by a housing association and then ELC.
Developers have to provide affordable housing on developments over a certain size but that need not mean social/council housing for rent.
Council housing needs to be on ELC owned land. This is in short supply in the town. If the 24 houses are not built at Hughes Garage the Council would need to find another ELC owned site or purchase one. Where ????
There are car parks around town - supermarkets, station, pool, new Community Centre, harbour. It will be good if parking times are increased to 90 minutes. There are also other places to park a car and walk a short distance. A place to live should come before a place to park a car. The site is also good for housing in that it is central to town for families who cannot afford to be out of town and run a car or use the infrequent buses to get in/out.
Recommend? Yes 9
No 5
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Dunbar Woman
Unregistered User
Jun 23, 10:29
Report commentWhy does Council Housing have to be built on ELC land ?
Again, could ELC not be using some creative thinking (!) and negotiate with Private Housing Developers (who are building houses that are apparantly NOT needed for the Open Market as they are not selling) to provide/purchase some of this Housing built on Private land for Council Housing Stock ?
COULD ELC (and other Councils) not make it a conditional part of Planning Permissions that Private Developers must provide or pay private housing and not demand a percentage of Housing of Council Stock as part of the "deal"?
I dont agree that this site is best suited for Housing. I personally think that the Hughes Garage site is a prime oppertunity to enhance our Town Centre . That could be a mixture of Carparking AND new retail/leisure units. The Towns population is steadily growing, yet the facilities to provide for residents and vistors is NOT growing at the same pace. It should be , or people will travel elsewhere for entertainment & shopping and Dunbars struggling prosperity will suffer further.
Recommend? Yes 5
No 3
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A LOCAL
Unregistered User
Jun 24, 20:58
Report commentI can see no benefit to Dunbar in building council houses that would be filled with people, who may well have 'issues', from other areas. However, parking, with direct access to the High Street and no ticket hungry Traffic Warden, would certainly relieve the ridiculous double parking High Street antics of some drivers.
Recommend? Yes 6
No 4
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Robert McNeill
Unregistered User
Jun 26, 13:36
Report commentMidlothian leader told to resign or face no confidence vote
Paul how lucky you must be.
Watch your back.
Recommend? Yes 1
No 3
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Robert McNeill
Unregistered User
Jun 26, 13:58
Report commentYet another story regarding what many now refer to as "social " housing, the correct term is rented accommodation, which can be delivered by the council, housing associations, private landlords or various other providers.
Individuals seem to think that when you build "social" housing it brings with it many problems, this may be the case in some situations but not all, likewise in a private development it has been known for the same issues to prevail.
The problem is not always down to the individuals who stay in them but how these house are allocated and to who, therefore the Scottish Government need to look at a more sensible approach to allocation policies.
But to those who complain about more “social housing” if you look at many parts of Europe the norm is rented accommodation which has allowed individuals a more flexible lifestyle allowing more mobility in the workforce.
Recommend? Yes 2
No 4
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A LOCAL
Unregistered User
Jun 27, 07:28
Report comment"The problem is not always down to the individuals who stay in them but how these house are allocated and to who, therefore the Scottish Government need to look at a more sensible approach to allocation policies."
This, I totally agree with.
Recommend? Yes 2
No 2
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Robert McNeill
Unregistered User
Jun 27, 09:30
Report commentPaul
Quote of the week
Kezia Dugdale, Labour MSP for the Lothians, said: "People in Midlothian must be wondering what on earth is going on.
"They deserve better than this backstabbing and infighting
Recommend? Yes 0
No 6
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Dr Christmas Jones
Unregistered User
Jun 27, 12:52
Report commentWell, it looks as though Midlothian SNP at least had the balls to boot out one half of this "power couple". In East Lothian it took the electors to do it and I don't imagine for one moment that we can expect the SNP group to take action over the remaining party.
Recommend? Yes 0
No 3
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LocalWookie
Unregistered User
Jun 28, 09:03
Report commentThat is just the most insane statement i have ever read, there is a massive "free" car park at the swimming pool, just off the high street... why do we need yet another? build homes for young families to boost the local economy!
Parking? .... tourisim died years ago in dunbar! so who needs parking.
Recommend? Yes 5
No 4
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touristswelcome
Unregistered User
Jun 28, 10:12
Report comment@Localwookie
"Parking? .... tourisim died years ago in dunbar! so who needs parking. "
Should Dunbar just ignore the potential benefits that encouraging more Tourists, Visitors and consistent trade from local residents then? What a lazy, backward outlook !!
The pool carpark IS currently used and is frequently full !
Steps could be taken to encourage more use of the Co-op carpark - better signage and better access to the High Street would be helpful. So would increased parking times on the High Street itself. ELC just dont seem to support the many and numerous efforts being made within Dunbar to attract new business and vistors. I hope they dont share your views that tourism is not a worthy source of prosperity for Dunbar.
There are new homes being built all around Dunbar and more proposals in the pipeline. Building housing in the Town Centre will only add to parking problems !
With other changes being proposed for Dunbar - The Harbour Redevelopment , for example- ELC need to employ some forward thinking and act NOW to make plans to make Dunbar more accessable and attractive for Visitors and Residents alike.
Recommend? Yes 6
No 1
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