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Response by the Cabinet Member: Thank you for your question regarding a proposal to extend the curtilage of Llanigon and Hay Rural Village Hall to incorporate the Llanigon Primary School site, to create a Llanigon Community Green Space for Play and Sociability. The Llanigon Primary School site sits within the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA), having been transferred to the HRA from the Council’s General Fund, for a consideration of £150,000. This sum was paid in the expectation that social housing would be built on the site, allowing the cost of the land to be recovered by the HRA through rental payments made by tenants. For the HRA to provide and fund a play area and greenspace amenity there would need to be an assessment as to whether or not such provision would be deemed a ‘core’ or a ‘core-plus’ service in respect of the ‘who benefits’ test for whether or not the HRA can fund a service, property or other activity. ‘Core plus’ covers additional services ancillary to the primary purpose of housing provision, which may have wider benefits to the overall community. A service that cannot be defined as ‘core’ or ‘core-plus’ should be accounted for in the council’s General Fund. Play and other recreational areas, grassed areas and gardens and community centres can be considered as ‘core’ but in each case, it is for the authority to form its own judgement on whether provision is proper under Part II of the 1985 Act and the extent to which the costs should be charged to the HRA. There can only be a charge to the HRA where the amenities are provided and maintained in connection with Part II housing accommodation i.e. council housing. Where an amenity is shared by the community as a whole, the authority must have regard to paragraph 3 of Part III of Schedule 4 to the 1989 Act. This requires a contribution to be made from the General Fund to the HRA reflecting the general community’s share of the amenity. Please note that we have established that there is housing demand in Llanigon. The table below sets out the current housing demand, as evidenced by households registered with ‘Homes in Powys’ for Llanigon. First choice Llanigon: 7 Min 1 bed, max 1 bed Min 1 bed, max 2 bed Min 2 bed, max 2 bed Min 3 bed, max 3 bed Min 4 bed, max 4 bed 2 2 1 1 1 There are a further 187 households registered with ‘Homes in Powys’ who have Llanigon as an ‘other choice’. The tables below provide the details of affordable housing demand for the neighbouring communities of Bronllys, Talgarth and Hay-on-Wye to show the levels of demand for secure, affordable homes in this part of Powys. First choice Bronllys: 25 Min 1 bed, max 1 bed Min 1 bed, max 2 bed Min 2 bed, max 2 bed Min 3 bed, max 3 bed Min 3 bed, max 4 bed 11 1 8 4 1 First Choice Talgarth: 42 Min 1 bed, max 1 bed Min 1 bed, max 2 bed Min 2 bed, max 2 bed Min 2 bed, max 3 bed Min 3 bed, max 3 bed Min 3 bed, max 4 bed Min 4 bed, max 4 bed 11 6 16 1 3 1 4 First Choice Hay on Wye: 96 Min 1 bed, max 1 bed Min 1 bed, max 2 bed Min 2 bed, max 2 bed Min 2 bed, max 3 bed Min 3 bed, max 3 bed Min 3 bed, max 4 bed Min 4 bed, max 4 bed 41 11 22 4 12 1 5 Llanigon is currently detrimentally affected by planning restrictions due to phosphates. However, when this has been resolved there will be a clear need to develop homes to start to catch up on the backlog of development that has added to housing market challenges in the area where supply has fallen further behind demand for both social and owner-occupied housing. There are two sites locally that could be developed for social housing to meet evidenced housing demand and needs ie the Llanigon School site and the Digeddi Villas Play Park. The Digeddi Villas Play Park site could be exchanged for the school site, subject to a review of the developability of the Digeddi Villas site for social housing and valuations of the two sites representing little or no loss of benefit to the HRA, which as noted above has made a payment of £150,000 for the school site. With regard to play areas in Llanigon, the Play Sufficiency Assessment has identified a need for development in the village of play facilities as the current equipment is nearing end of life. One of the challenges here is funding availability. New play equipment can easily cost £10,000 per item. Unfortunately, the annual Welsh Government Play Grant stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic. I understand that discussions took place prior to the Covid-19 pandemic with colleagues from the Countryside and Outdoor Recreation team about identifying funding for enhancing play provision. If funding can be secured, then decisions about where the equipment can be located can be informed by future plans for the available areas of land in the village, taking account of such factors as housing need and the suitability of proposed sites as play areas.
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