7.45

It is considered that the Core Strategy should contain a contingency plan to take account of circumstances that may arise if funding for the Bexhill/Hastings link road is not secured.

Given that the 2010 SHMA Up-Date Report projects (Figure 2.7) that 3,918 additional households are expected to form between 2011 and 2026 there is a clear need for the locally based housing target of 3,700- 4,100 dwellings to be met in full, with or without the link road.

The draft Core Strategy should indicate how this would be achieved in the circumstances of there being no link road during the plan period.

Without such a clear contingency the draft Core Strategy is overly reliant on the funding of a major new infrastructure element when there remains uncertainty as to whether such funding will materialise.

Without such certainty and without a contingency plan it is unlikley that the Core Strategy could be found to be sound.