Report on housing branded 'bonkers'

A leading councillor has branded a report into Stockton's housing supply "literally bonkers".

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT

Cllr Tony Riordan, the leader of Stockton's Conservative group who sits on Stockton Council's planning committee, expressed worries about the report giving figures which could affect future planning applications.

"I have a great number of concerns about the way the report has been assembled with parts where it doesn't make sense at all," he told the planning committee meeting last Wednesday. "If this committee is asked to reply on that report, I think it would be flawed."

As a result of his concerns, councillors voted to put off consideration of an outline planning application for up to 11 self-build plots near Manor Close, Wolviston, to a later date. The council's report gave an update on the level of housing supply in the borough of Stockton between 2025 and 2030.

It says the five-year housing supply requirement is 4,153 homes, but the council could only show four years' worth of deliverable housing sites, saying: "The council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing supply."