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27 Jun 2007 - Anger as Council cuts millions from affordable housing
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Anger as Council cuts millions from affordable housing
Local families have been dealt a hammer blow by the new Conservative administration on North Somerset Council following news that more than £4.5 million is to be slashed from the authority’s affordable housing budget.
Amendments to the agreed council budget for this year being put forward by the Conservative majority on North Somerset Council include plans to cut spending on affordable housing over the next five years from £12.5 million to £8 million.
Weston-super-Mare’s Liberal Democrat Prospective MP, Mike Bell, has condemned the announcement as “a short-sighted, hypocritical and cruel blow”.
Mike said: “Everyone knows that there is a desperate need for more affordable housing in Weston and North Somerset – both to buy and rent. We need to do more, not less, to help young families get a home of their own.
“To slash millions from the affordable homes budget is short-sighted, because it means we will lose out on millions in matched funding from the Housing Corporation and government.
“It is hypocritical, because Weston’s Conservative MP and Conservative Councillors have called for more to be done, and yet the first chance they get they wield the axe.
“Worst of all, it is a cruel blow to the many local young families and key workers who face a longer wait to get a home of their own. As a direct result of this decision fewer affordable homes will be available to local people in need.”
Councillor Andy Cole, the Lib Dem spokesman on North Somerset’s Housing and Adult Care Scrutiny Panel, added: “We have thousands on the waiting list for homes in North Somerset. This money was raised through the transfer of council homes to the independent social landlord North Somerset Housing. What could make more sense than to invest it in more affordable homes for the next generation?
“Families in Nailsea, Portishead and Clevedon will be left to struggle whilst Conservative Councillors hoard cash at the Town Hall. It is a disgrace.”
ENDS