Derwenthorpe York housing development latest (From York Press)

A long row of portacabins placed on the disused airfield at Clifton would be "Affordable"

A few more chrome caravans on the soon to be extended traveller site in Osbaldwick would be "Affordable"

Nothing built on the Derwenthorpe site whatever (Phase) Present or future could ever be deemed affordable or affordable to the homeless and needy of York.

The term Affordable is banded about willy nilly by self serving left wing councillors who still beleive in the concept despite its utter failure because of their unrealistic expectations from the private builders of York. Most of whom are now mere memories and the rest have moved on to pastures that are viable and do deliver the end product....HOUSES.

£280000 affordable? I'm on a good wage and own my own home, but could never afford to buy something at that price!

Not only are they NOT affordable but there are grants given by Government and they are still NOT affordable
When will our Council learn that if JRHT cannot make affordable work with an £8 million subsidy how on earth are develpers supposed to make it work with NO subsidy?
Its time for this madness to end and our policymakers to stop fooling themselves and trying to fool us with their incomplete statistics and fixed figures and face reality and accept we all make mistakes. Their targets were laudable but unachievable in the good times let alone now.Its time to do something radical and as our leader espouses but is failing to do 'GET YORK BUILDING'

The Derwenthorpe houses are different from anything which currently exists in York or for that matter in York i general. They are aspirational and an illustration of the sort of housing we should be building as a matter of course in future.
They are not cheap, cut corners houses.

Gresmit wrote:
The Derwenthorpe houses are different from anything which currently exists in York or for that matter in York i general. They are aspirational and an illustration of the sort of housing we should be building as a matter of course in future.
They are not cheap, cut corners houses.

I meant to say 'different from anything which currently exists in York or for that matter in the UK in general'.

^ - I would have to agree with that. This isn't some "off the shelf" barrat development that consists of 3 story "town houses" with a garage on ground floor and a bedroom behind it, with a kitchen on 1st floor and bedrooms at the top, each house seperated only by a single row of breeze blocks with plasterboard glued to the blocks. (I know what these are like as I've doen work in one in the clifton moor area... the number of bodges and unfinished jobs was beyond belief - even just simple things like not bothering to fit in ducting from the shower room extractor fan, so it was just blowing humid, high-moisture air straight into the ceiling void); even the layout of the development is different, with the houses looking as though they have a half decent garden space.


One or two issues with the development though: (1) the derwent valley cycle route is now almost permanently flooded where it comes to the bottom of a slight hill at the end of Ambleside Avenue, which has led to the banks also being very muddy; (2) the cycle route from Metcalfe Lane to Meadlands is permanently flooded and it is getting deeper each time I go along there - if I hit the water at about 25mph I can cruise through it with my legs up so they don't get wet, but if I'm going any slower and have to pedal then the bottom of my feet get wet as the pedals are completely submerged in places along there; (2b) due to points 1 and 2 there is now no dry walking route to get from Osbaldwick to the north side of Heworth - I found this out a couple of weeks ago when I was walking back with my bike from B&Q with some wood on it, I have no idea how I managed to get past without getting bogged down; (3) the derwent valley cycle route track surface is getting very rough, this is leading to increased friction for cyclists and a bumpier ride - I hope this will be fixed soon (it should have been rectified when the route was closed for 6 months for laying power cables which replaced the overhead ones) in addition to removing the raised bumps either side of the plant crossing point to/from the housing development once this phase is complete; (4) Unlike what happened at Hallfield Road when james Street was extended, I hope that when the development's next stage(s) are complete that the cycle route will remain continous, as opposed to having a crossing where bikes have to wait for cars intercepting their route (as happened on Hallfield Road where the bridge was removed but cyclists now have to wait for cars coming in/out of the side road); (5) I would also like to see street lighting on Metcalfe Lane, possibly with negotiations with the owner of the road) in addition to works to get rid of the potholes along there; (6) whilst the Derwent Valley cycle route had new lighting installed between Metcalfe Lane and Tang Hall Lane which improved light quality, a fair number of the new lights don't work and never have - Amey can't replace them as they didn't fit those ones in the first place, so whoever in the development is responsible for this could do with getting some new lights (or rather new ballasts for inside them).

Good cycling comments but hardly tackles the issue of the unaffordability of these homes and lack of future development