Labour election candidate answers Thame’s questions

THE Labour party election candidate for the Henley constituency, Richard McKenzie, has responded to a series of questions about local, Thame issues.

Here is his response:

1. Do you think that the proposed 850 new homes earmarked for Thame by the South East Core Strategy will be good for the town, or not?

A: For small towns to be viable there need to be enough houses, that people can afford, for people to be able to move in to. I agree with the Party manifesto, where we want houses to be principally built on brown field sites and for Councils to be able to build council houses. In relation to the question, I understand that the actual number has not come from the SE plan, but SODC who are seeking to allocate that number of houses to Thame. If Thame needs new houses there should be sensible proposals from SODC to allocate the number to make sure that the number is sustainable and the land is available.

2. What will you do to persuade the government (if your party forms or is part of a balanced government) to do something about the economic viability of market towns?

A: These two questions are connected, for towns to be viable people have to be able to afford to live in them and there needs to be sufficient infra structure to support them. In the first instance the Labour Party has declared a 2 year holiday on Stamp Duty for houses below