A WHITEHILL town councillor has warned that new legal safeguards on park homes, heralded by the local MP last week, may not be a magic bullet. Philip Drury said that the Redhouse Park Home site in his Hogmoor ward had been reduced from 125 to 33 homes in the past five years, and these had dropped in value by as much as 80 or 90 per cent. Mr Drury said the situation echoed the Land Clearance Acts of the 17th and 18th centuries, which "effectively caused the destruction of so many very close communities". He was responding to comments made by Bordon's MP James Arbuthnot that changes in the legislation surrounding park homes, giving residents more security, were "absolutely essential to protect their quality of life". Over the past year, a number of consultation documents have been issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's (ODPM) Park Home Policy Unit. The most significant documents have been the changes to sections of the Housing Act 2004, which direct the process in which a park home can be sold. These include site-licence conditions to empower residents, and possible changes to the commission rates on the sale of a park home. Mr Drury said: "Much of the current changes to legislation have been aimed at unscrupulous landlords who appear to have been scouring the country for run-down park- home sites being sold at knock-down prices, with a view to clearing the sites over time. "There seems to be a pattern of approach to clearing the sites of homes for redevelopment in key areas, which often produce profits that can run into millions of pounds for the landowner. "Up until recently, councils and governments have not been empowered, or even interested, to respond under past law, and this indicates a real problem for residents and the future of park-home living. "The new legislation should address some of the imbalances, but I doubt that it will completely resolve all of the social difficulties experienced by so many current and past owners of mobile homes. "It should be remembered that many people based in park homes live there either by choice or increasingly through necessity because of unreachable housing prices and an unfair points system in the social-housing market. "Redhouse Mobile Home Park is, of course, central to the foundation of Whitehill and Bordon and is a major part of its social history, with many locals having their roots there. "Mr Arbuthnot's arguments on park homes as affordable housing holds some weight because they do offer eco-friendly one to three-bed homes where all the facilities are of a high quality with high-energy efficiency. "This, combined with the community spirit found on park-home sites, assures the quality of life for residents, and I have stated as much to the district council and beyond. "I have been active in assisting the Redhouse residents and just lately I have written to the district council's newly formed Social Justice Board (SJB) recommending this site be placed on the agenda. The SJB should be providing information on housing grants and benefits available to park-home residents to increase their life chances, especially the elderly retired, unemployed, young and vulnerable residents." Mr Drury has made a number of suggestions to the ODPM and the district council. There should be a 20-year renewable and secure covenant on park-home sites with a view to extending the financial loan term to assist first-time buyers onto the housing market, he said. He called for councils to be empowered to resolve issues currently outside site-licence conditions by making Compulsory Purchase Orders on sites with unsuitable landlords and running them until a suitable one can be found. Mr Drury said: "It is my hope that this sad and uncompromising situation on the Redhouse Park Home site will be resolved at some stage, but at this time the residents' needs must come first because if they lose their homes where will they go?"
