This afternoon Horsham Labour Party were out in Horsham Town Centre, collecting more signatures for our petition on affordable housing.The petition calls for Horsham District Council to stick to its agreed policy of allocating 40% of new large developments to affordable housing and not to give in to the developers of the new site near Broadbridge Heath who have asked for the affordable element to be reduced to only 20%.
We intend to present the petition to the council's planning committee when this development comes before it, to remind them of the council's strategy and to try and persuade them to stick to that policy when making any Section 106 agreements.
Remember - the 40% policy has been consistently given as a justification for not having any quotas for affordable housing on small developments and for not enforcing affordable quotas on some developments in the town.
If anybody is in any doubt that affordable homes deserve to be at the top of the agenda, here is a timely reminder of how unaffordable much of our housing is for the average family: a West Sussex County Times report that average house price in Horsham district is more than 12 times the average salary!
If we have missed you while out and about knocking on doors or standing in the Carfax and you would like your name added to this petition, just e-mail us with your name and address and we will add your name to it. There are only a couple of weeks left to join the list of people petitioning the council on this matter.