Looking ahead, Crawley Council has some significant decisions to make in the year ahead. Not least of these is a policy position on Gatwick Airport. We are the local planning authority and our attitude to any specific planning application is distinct from an expression of policy. Applications must be determined without prejudice on their own merits.
The arguments around Gatwick are finely balanced but there would appear to be very strong business support for a second runway, with the situation being less clear amongst Crawley residents. We would expect Crawley Council’s view to count for something in the national debate and so we will ensure that we arrive at a decision that is clearly evidence-based, and therefore credible.
Our other two core economic areas are Manor Royal Business District and the town centre. The former has been politically rediscovered in recent years. It has benefited from substantial investment from both West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Council.
With the town centre, we see the visible progress of Town Centre North Phase One on the former Sussex House site. Our challenge is how to move forward from this development to achieve further phases of regeneration, not just along The Boulevard but at other sites such as the entrance into town from Crawley Station. We need to decide on our level of aspiration taking into account what is actually likely to be deliverable in the current economic climate.
Then we have our Local Plan to be adopted in the spring of 2014. This policy document defines our vision for Crawley up to the year 2029. It states how we see the future in terms of general development, housing, employment, green space and much else. We live within a tight urban boundary so creative thinking is required to meet the future needs of the community.
A particular challenge is around housing where it is difficult to see how Crawley’s needs can be fully met within the current administrative boundary. Bringing forward a few in-fill sites will not solve this issue and there will be a need for strategic land allocation beyond Crawley in cooperation with other local authorities.
We still have a waiting list of some 3,000 applicants for new housing in addition to emerging needs. This is now coupled with reductions in housing benefit for tenants under occupying a home, which creates a policy dilemma. People could be genuinely looking to downsize but cannot find a smaller property. This situation means that we need to do all that we can to boost housing supply in the size range that is needed and make downsizing as efficient a process as possible. We have already made some headway with this by offering help with moving expenses.