Inverness Courier now reports:
'Luxury housing fair homes now selling as affordable"
THREE of the prestigious houses built for Inverness’ controversial housing expo are being marketed as affordable homes as organisers try desperately to sell the 24 remaining properties before April.
The terraced houses, which feature Ikea kitchens, Neff appliances, ground source heat pumps and solar panels, are valued at £200,000 but are being marketed on an 80/20 shared equity basis, leaving the purchaser to find £160,000. More here
APTSec cannot understand why the Government should have considered this project as an exemplar and produced a report in late 2008 questioning why the Highland Housing Fair was included in a Planning Advice Note (83) on 'Masterplanning' given the dearth of public involvement at the most pertinent moments.
Extract from APT report:
Public involvement is extremely important in the context of Housing Fairs in Finland, as is, it seems, the choice of site. In this model there is multi-faceted co-operation between the various related organisations, companies and the future residents of the areas being developed.
Housing Fairs are described as “Always a joint project” and “The Finnish Housing Fair Co-operative Organisation always works in co-operation with each host municipality to run the annual fair. The Vaasa Housing Fair in 2008 clearly illustrates the care with which the sites are chosen and the relationship of the site to ecological values.
The fairs provide the opportunity for designers and builders to try out innovative solutions in practice e.g. architectural and other industry related competitions constantly produce a wealth of new ideas for improvements in housing and living conditions
The ‘raison d’etre’ for the (Highland) Housing Fair (as you will note from the briefing note by Highland Housing Alliance included as Appendix 3) was education of consumers, the influencing of the building industry and promotion of, not just sustainable design codes and quality ‘Highland’ housing (including affordable), but Inverness itself through the media. The idea was also sold on the opportunity to counter previously negative views of the design of buildings in Inverness. Three elements were to form the Fair – an architectural competition, an event, and a wider agenda regarding sustainability of community.
There were however time constraints on the project and The Steering Group attempting to reduce the normal Finnish model 6 year organising time to 3½ years. The Fair grew larger as time passed, even though it had been noted by committee in mid 2005 that ‘Potential sponsors (were) properly wary of an over ambitious and time-critical project which would fail unless it was robustly planned and managed’.Further to this, the briefing note (appendix 3) records that the Steering Group perceived at an early stage that the selection of an appropriate site was crucial to the success of the Fair. When the idea for a Housing Fair was initially put before The Highland Council Sustainable Development Select Committee on 12/01/05, the acquisition of a reasonably priced plot was identified as a potential difficulty by that committee.
The selection of a site, such an important element of the Finnish model, did indeed prove problematic for the Fair organizers; so problematic that even a site allocated for community use adjoining a primary school, which formed part of the amenity land under an S75 agreement, was considered (planning concerns here related to community reaction to potential loss of a neighbourhood centre and sports facilities).
The issues of time constraints and difficulties with site selection posed significant problems, not just for the organisers and officials, but for the community, who came so late to the process...
...The Highland Housing Fair example is the only exemplar in PAN 83 that does not make reference to community engagement.The Highland Housing Fair enterprise could have provided a wonderful opportunity for the community to get involved in planning; to see an innovative project through from beginning to end. But the great potential for public involvement that was afforded was never realised. Parties involved were struggling against unrealistic timescales and difficulties with site selection; focusing on their own agendas and taking related opportunities; and we believe that the public involvement aspects suffered as a result. It is not clear as to whether there was any community involvement at any stage within The Highland Housing Fair project Steering Group.
Whilst we appreciate that this attempt to bring forward the Housing Fair Model in Highland was a hugely ambitious enterprise and innovative in concept, members of the community should have been involved from the earliest stages of the development process.
Furthermore there is little emphasis on the community involvement side of the Finnish model, or of community involvement in the actual preparation of the Highland concept, and The Highland Housing Fair example focuses on the design element and how this will either be scrutinized by the public visiting the exhibition, or responded to by the ‘eventual residents’.
Planning Advice Note 83 has been produced as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to the design quality agenda and covers the topic of Master Planning. The PAN builds on and forms part of, the design series which provides a wide range of advice on built environment specialist subjects.
The Highland Housing Fair has been included within the PAN as a case study.
- Public involvement is stated by the Government as being of importance in the context of planning:
“In Scotland, great importance has always been attached to public involvement in the planning system. We believe that it is important to ensure that every person regardless of their background can have their say in the decisions which affect them.”
- PAN 83 sits in the context of this inclusiveness and states:
“Creating better places through masterplanning requires a high degree of collaboration and communication between the client, the community and the local authority”.
It is also stated within the Planning Advice Note that the intended audience for PAN 83 is “anyone who has a role in the planning, design and approval of development. This essentially includes built environment professionals, key stakeholders (including financiers) and the community”.
Of the 5 case studies presented as exemplars in PAN 83, Community Involvement is a strong feature of all but one, the Highland Housing Fair case Study.
