Shameful policy on council housing

I was fortunate enough to be able to speak as a member of the public to the cabinet last week on this council’s desire to build council housing.

I fully support this action believing that housing for many is beyond their economic reach.

Having grown up in a ‘council house’ when this was more or less the norm I have always believed that each and every one of us is entitled to good quality housing, not even the affordable homes that are wrapped up as part of the large scale housing developments are financially within the reach of many.

How disappointing it is to find that the way that this council is procuring ‘council housing’ is nothing

short of SHAMEFUL.

Firstly the eight sites where just over 50 ‘houses’ are to be built are being kept from us as residents because... the council do not want to let residents know where they will be built, so much for transparency. They are worried about the so called stigma of living next to a council house, which I find distasteful.

I have been concerned that they want to build on the now famous, or should I say infamous, Tufa Field off Englishcombe, an ecological site that in my opinion must be saved for future generations.

They will not confirm they will not build on it, is it one of the sites or not? Cllr Guy, you can settle this once and for all and tell your officers that this must not be built on.

My overriding concern is the role that this council’s development company Aequus is taking.

Many will know I’ve opposed their increasingly disturbing involvement in the property market and for now for them to be drawn into the building of council housing needs careful examination.

We now hear that the council will be acquiring the flats in Newbridge Hill, the building that was sold to Aequus by the council at a fraction of its true value, but this time they will be buying off their development company at market value.

This is so disturbing, as the council can only get social rent and I suspect they will make massive losses.

The Aequus directors in the accounts that have just been published have received a pay rise of 13.5 per cent to a salary of well over £160,000. Not of course including the massive pension contributions that we as residents are making to their income.

When the rest of the hard working local government officers are having a small increase. The figures are scandalous and what make it worse is that there is little or no scrutiny by the opposition on the various panels.

They should demand a completely independent (not one appointed by the council) audit preferably by the the Local Government Ombudsman.

It can not be right that 2 employees of a council owned development company are being paid nearly as much as the Prime Minister and have pay increases 3 or 4 times those who have been at the forefront of the NHS.

This is quite shameful, the council should be challenging this company instead of allowing them to run amok without questioning them.

Yes council housing, but not at any cost.

Bob Goodman

By email