Sabden reaches ‘saturation point’ in new homes battle

Plans have been approved in the past year for 127 new homes and now villagers have said “enough is enough”.

At the latest meeting of Sabden Residents’ Association, villagers were given details of all the new homes planned – and they now want an assurance from the borough council that the village has met its targets for new and affordable housing.

Figures compiled by the residents’ association from recently approved planning applications show that:

l The total number of homes approved for Sabden currently stands at 127 – 44 at Cobden Mill, 70 at Victoria Mill/Marbill site, eight at the wetlands off Whalley Road and five at the old Birtwell Printworks on Stubbins Lane.

l The total number of affordable homes approved is 46 – Cobden Mill 10, Victoria Mill/Marbill 27, Wetlands eight and Printworks one.

l The total number of social rent/housing association homes approved is 37 – Cobden Mill 10, Victoria Mill/Marbill 19, Wetlands 8.

A spokesman for the association said: “The Sabden Housing Needs Survey in 2009 advised that 27 affordable dwellings would cover requirement in the village. This has clearly been surpassed by quite some distance.

“At the time of submission for the two major developments, Ribble Valley Homes claimed a waiting list of 30 applicants for social rented accommodation in Sabden. Again, this number of homes has not only been met, but exceeded.”

With these figures in mind and with new applications still being submitted to build houses in Sabden, the association says it would like to receive confirmation from Ribble Valley Borough Council that Sabden has met its targets and fulfilled its requirement for housing overall, affordable housing and social rent/housing association accommodation.

In the 2001 Census, Sabden had a population of 1,357 and 587 households, but there are now around 630 households and when the figures from this year’s census are released they are expected to show a big population increase.

l At last week’s meeting of Sabden Parish Council, members were concerned at a planning application for a large five-bedroomed property on land at Padiham Road, above Mount Pleasant, which had been earmarked for two affordable homes.