Hampshire police asked by Lymington Town Council to pay £1m for affordable housing

HAMPSHIRE Constabulary will be asked by town councillors to hand over £1m for affordable housing in Lymington following the sale of the town’s police station.

Lymington and Pennington Town Council voted through a motion to send the demand to the police and crime commissioner (PCC), Donna Jones.

The controversial Southampton Road site, which closed in October 2020, was reportedly sold to Churchill Retirement Living for a figure of £2.6m, subject to planning consent.

An application was submitted for 32 retirement flats, with no provision for affordable housing – which was refused first by New Forest District Copuncil and then by a planning inspector, as reported in the A&T.

However, the inspector did not accept the argument that the scheme would not deliver the right mix of housing, and the refusal was instead based on a technical issue relating to resolving nitrate pollution.

Now Churchill has resubmitted its bid for 32 retirement properties along with a full plan to mitigate nitrates.

At a meeting of Lymington and Pennington Town Council, Cllr Alan Penson proposed it should seek £1m-plus from the PCC to fund affordable housing, in addition to £970,000 that the developer will be required to pay to NFDC for the provision.

Cllr Penson declared: “The site has been in community use for nearly 70 years and it was reasonable to expect that such a use would have been continued by, for instance, the sale to the local authority or an affordable housing provider.”

Cllr Penson said the “right and proper action” would be for the PCC to pay the £1m towards affordable housing.

He added: “There is still the opportunity for a substantial proportion of the additional proceeds to be made available for housing in the local community.”

Cllr Simon Smith agreed: “This proposal could help fund more start-up homes and affordable family housing we so desperately need. Without this, Lymington risks becoming a zombie town devoid of the vibrancy that youth brings.”

Cllr Jack Davies unsuccessfully proposed an amendment that the town council should urge NFDC to reopen talks with the PCC about buying the police station and building affordable housing.

Cllr Andy Ash-Vie said Land Registry checks had revealed the police station site was originally donated to the Lymington Corporation with a special covenant, which could be used as an argument for the sale of site having to benefit the community.

Councillors unanimously agreed to write to Ms Jones requesting a £1m contribution towards affordable housing for Lymington from the proceeds of the sale of the Southampton Road property.