‘Our tenants should come first’

A man who has launched an online petition to stop Redbridge Council tenants occupying family homes at Howe Barracks insists “it’s about standing up for the right thing”.

James Mccrossan was incensed to learn that Canterbury City Council was trumped by the London borough in a bidding war over 147 former military family homes at the Littlebourne Road site. The 24-year-old says that with more than 2,500 names on its housing waiting list, Canterbury tenants should come first.

“This all started because my friends and I read the story on Kent Online and believe that a London council should not be able to get ahead of Canterbury for these homes just because it has more money,” said Mr Mccrossan, a former St Anselm’s School pupil.

“I grew up just down the road in Littlebourne and it’s clear that local people should have been made the priority for these houses. That’s why I started the petition. It’s a case of standing up for what’s right.”

The petition is called Stop the take over of Howe Barracks by the London Borough of Redbridge and has more than 2,500 signatories. If it reaches 10,000, it will prompt a response from the government. Although unlikely, 100,000 signatories would trigger a debate in Parliament.

Mr Mccrossan, who lives in Sandwich and works for the Nationwide building society’s staff union, added: “I’ve been trying to share the petition as much as possible and get people to sign it

“It is going really well and really took off in the 24 to 48-hour period after its launch. There’s been support for it in Canterbury, but also from further afield, from people who fear that this sort of thing might happen in their areas. If we want to get this changed then we need to put in the effort rather than just waiting for things to happen.”

The houses which Redbridge’s tenants will occupy are owned by property firm Annington. It bought them off the Ministry of Defence in 1996 and then leased them until last year when the MOD no longer had any use for them and handed them back to Annington.

The firm then offered the homes for rent, with Redbridge out-muscling Canterbury in a sealed bidding process.

Canterbury council officers will meet with their counterparts from Redbridge next week to discuss the arrival of the families in the city.

To view the petition log on to petition.parliament.uk/ petitions/131308

James Mccrossan, who has launched an online petition against Redbridge Council tenants occupying the former family homes at Howe Barracks