Forces rehabilitation centre

[GloriaMumble]

Did I just hear that right on the Today programme... local residents are objecting to a house being used for families to stay near their injured/ill armed forces relatives who are at a rehabilitaion centre on the basis it will lower the tone of the area - I'm

www.ssafa.org.uk/HeadleyCourt.html

there is a petition we have all been signing; look on the forces sweethearts section

Some people are beyond belief.

I read about this at the weekend. It makes me so . I would be delighted to have this near me and be able to hear/see famillies being happy together.

Have signed the petition - its even worse that, by the sound of it, the council are just going to fall in line with the nimbys rather than telling them to get a life, sensible priorities etc etc. Am so

how ridiculous, what exactly is their problem with it?

I haven't looked at the actual letters (apparently they're available on the council website but I can't find it) but it seems that they object because traffic will increase, wheelchairs may be a fire hazard, the house will increase the security risk in the area and that a hostel in the area isn't appropriate given the exisiting ambience.... I should stop researching this as its driving me nuts.

sounds totally unreasonable of them. i'll look for the petition later

All they want to do is put in a lift for wheelchair access.

Increased traffic - it's not bloody Tescos.

yes but the planning app isn't just for the wheelchair lift its for the change of use. So if the app gets rejected, the whole scheme is ruined rather than being able to go ahead without wheelchair access (which would be bad enough).

I know . What I mean is that is the only material change to the building - it is not going to change in appearance, so how can the 'ambience' change?

Sorry, didn't understand what you were getting at. I think the residents point is that they are used to the area containing only "people like them" and this scheme might lead to there being people walking around, using local shops who are a "different type".

I mean afterall, you wouldn't want to see a private's/airman's/junior rate's wife and children whilst you were entertaining your ladies-who-lunch friends would you? Maks me spit it really does.

I was at Headley Court years ago (long story!) and lived in Ashtead. I am not at all surprised by this story - the leafy lanes and the huge rambling houses seethe silently behind neo-georg diamond panes inhabited by a dull miriad of snobbish, small minded nouveau riche - jumped up insurance company mds and their ilk - all tooing and froing to the local golf club andy vying to get into the enclosure 'only one away from HRH' at the Derby but unable to see further than their own port-reddened noses. They play golf with those in the upper echelons of Mole Valley council, go to the same parties and their wives lunch together at Harvey Nicks - of course no noisy little ilks and their snotty offspring should be allowed to disrupt the perfect peace of Gray's Lane.... shudder.

Funnily enough I was going to post about it being a 'golf club mentaility'. And also the new money thing - old money is often connected to the Forces and understands the duty in looking after our men (and now women).

You've hit the nail on the head with your last post Gloria! Lets get all the privates/airmen/junior rates we know to descend on the place

ggg - love the description, and it sounds like hell on earth.

In a previous lifetime I lived in Cobham (also Mole borough council) and most of it was EXACTLY like that (shudder)
I lived with my parents at the time, in one of those huge snobby houses, and the neighbourhood was stifling! Luckily I was away at Poly in Bristol most the time and my parents were only in Cobham for 3 years.
They loved it. Says it all about my parents sadly.

Mole Valley council even - shows how little notice I took of the place

personally i'd object if the house beside me (a residential area) was being changed from a residential dwelling to a year round hostel.
no matter what you say it will decrease the value of their houses and they have a right to protect their property and investments.

i guess they must feel v lucky they dont need a wheelchair or have never been seriously injured, and are confident they never will

i mean how dare some people not be like them

ffs

'decrease the value of their property' And you have evidence of that, do you, TheMan?

Anyway, the planning system does not exist to protect the value of people's property. It exists to regulate and balance development so that it does not cause significant damage to people's environment.

of course it would, it is common sense.
i'm not talking about the planning system as they will make their own decision. i am talking about the residents right to oppose the hostel and to put such an opposition to the planning board to be considered.then have them decide on the matter. i don't see why people have a problem with people exercising their right to object. and personally apart from reducing the value of the property such a development would alter the environment of the area which is designated as a residential area. if the planning system wish to allow this change and refocus the areas development that is within their power but these residents are perfectly entitled to object to any proposed changes to their living environment.

Ah-ha the old 'it's common sense' argument. Translating as: 'well, I wouldn't buy a house in that area, so no-one else would, obviously'

Actually, the property market is made up of a lot more people than you and I and guess what? A lot of them have other things to think about when buying a property than the use of the other buildings in the neighbourhood, particularly where that use actually carries hardly any inconvenience.

For example, let's take the street I live on. South east england - strong property market (where isn't ?) in my neck of the woods. Residential street, mostly medium sized family semis. At one end there is an old folks home. Rather larger than the proposed hostel with all of the associated comings and goings of relatives visiting etc

And I can tell you there is absolutely no diminution of value in the houses right next to that home, or in the street compared to neighbouring streets of similar houses.

This is not a hostel for asylum seekers, the homeless or those on probation. It is the equivalent of a nice bed and breakfast for the families of the injured. It will have f*ck all impact on these guys' property value and to argue that it will is just a smoke screen for narrow minded nimbyism of the worst sort.

excuse my ignorance but what is nimbyism?
"A lot of them have other things to think about when buying a property than the use of the other buildings in the neighbourhood"

sorry but surely after the actual house itself that is the primary concern for any house buyer? what sort of area you live in. and if this area has become valuable based on its location and the fact that it is a quiet residential area then of course the introduction of a hostel to it would cause a decrease in value.

Nimby = 'not in my b ack yard'

Buying decisions for houses are complex. For most of the market the following will be important:

Location (where house actually is - can I travel to work from it? Is it close enough to my parents?)
Size & type of house (millions of different factors here)
Other features of house (garden, garage etc)
Surroundings (made up of a combination of factors: how close you are to facilities like schools, transport, shops. How well kept the surroundings look. How peaceful they are. Whether there are any obvious sources of nuisance ie hostels, pubs etc)

Each individual in the market will put this list in a different order, and each individual will have a different idea about what makes an attractive house, good location etc.

So if different people have different ideas about what makes a house attractive, it follows that you are going to find some who will not give a stuff about a quiet hostel and will happily continue to pay top dollar for a good home in a family neighbourhood.

Now I'm not denying there are some activities that will so obviously cause a problem to the neighbourhood that it does devalue a house - for example a house right next to a major motorway is likely to be valued at a big discount.

But this is a quiet residential hostel for families, FGS! I'm fairly sure that in a hot market like this it is not going to outweigh the other advantages of good location and good house. In fact, I would challenge you to find evidence of any neighbourhood where such a hostel has actually reduced the prices achieved on a house sale.

it's tempory militry housing for gods sake, not somewhere down and outs go. this is a welfare house and you will find most militry family to have respectable children and live quitely and keep to their selves. also to that end I have no doubt that the militry contractors will keep the place looking tidy etc from the outside.

I fail to see how having a housing centre for teh personell would do anything apart form boost the moral of those in hedley court to get them back to their jobs as quick as poss.

have signed the petition.

I can see how for some people such a hostel would INCREASE property prices. Afterall, any private house could be bought by/let to someone who did no upkeep and let it become run down or painted it purple or something equally "non-U" (as these residents would no doubt refer to it) whereas an organisation like SSFA would be much more likely to keep it "nice". Also this place is likely to be regualrly occupied which is better than my FIL's road where more than 50% of the houses are only occupied sporadically esp over the summer when the owners head off to their country piles.

As has already been said house prices are complex things and the planning system is not there to protect them...