Builders must pay for roads (From Echo)

Builders must pay for roads

8:10am Thursday 1st March 2007 in News

Essex County Council's revised form of contract with housebuilders makes sense. It seeks to raise money for infrastructure via a £10,000 per property contribution from developers.

Property companies are already shedding tears over the proposal, but the tears are crocodile ones - £10,000 per property is small change in relation to the money homebuilders stand to make from the imminent Essex building boom.

Their arguments this will effect the price of development land are spurious, since they already hold huge stocks of land.

There are provisos. The deal must be transparent and the £10,000 must be built into the costing of the homes before building starts. Most importantly, the money should be spent on, or close to, the site that is generating the cash. That way the infrastructure goes where the building is.

The county council seems reluctant to accept this last point. But the notion that money raised by development in south Essex should be diverted to western or northern parts of the county is unjust and illogical.

District councils have it in their power to give the county council a hard time over this issue, and should do so.

A use for the Ex?

Naomi Millbank-Smith, of Leigh, is back from the tropical island where she took part in a TV show.

The one blip in this paradise existence came when she dumped her boyfriend - on camera.

Ah, well. Sounds like that was nothing compared to her next venture: a reality show called Catfight, in which models learn to box. She might hope she'd kept him around after all.