‘Foolish’ to house young mum next to over-60s
COUNCILLOR BLASTS THE DECISION, SAYING ‘YOUNG AND OLD DO NOT MIX’
A COUNCILLOR says it is “grossly unfair” that a young mum has been housed next to pensioners in Kimberley.
Residents on Valley Road said last week that noise and anti-social behaviour from their new neighbour is ruining their lives.
And now Philip Owen, the Conservative councillor for Nuthall East and Strelley, has blasted the Labour-led Broxtowe Borough Council for “foolishness” in changing its housing allocation policy. The council declassified some of its independent living properties in 2020 and changed them to general needs properties “after consultation with tenants”.
Councillor Owen said: “This case has highlighted the foolishness of what Broxtowe Borough Council are doing. It’s disrupted the whole of that area of Valley Road. There are comings and goings at all hours of the day and night and there is a young baby which inevitably cries. If you’re in your 70s and 80s you don’t want that in the early hours of the morning and that is what they are getting. It is grossly unfair.”
Valley Road is part of Broxtowe Council’s Independent Living Service. Traditionally for over 60s, independent living properties can also be allocated to applicants with “a disability that makes their present home unsuitable and who would benefit from the support available in independent living accommodation.”
No properties on Valley Road had their status changed in the 2020 move, the council said.
It was in December 2023 that a single mum in her late 20s or 30s moved into one of the semi-detached bungalows. Since then, neighbours have complained of music playing long into the night, of cars pulling up on the street in the early hours, of banging coming from the property and of being kept awake for hours between 2am and 6am, especially on weekends. The mum told the Post that the complaints had affected her life and that the noise came from her young child.
The residents contacted Councillor Owen in January. An email to him from the residents said: “Up again since 2.30am we can’t put up with much more of this”. Two hours later, a followup said: “It is now 4.56am. The music is still playing and my wife sits here crying. It’s not on really, is it?”
Councillor Owen told the Post that it is not the only case of elderly residents complaining of a young person being housed next to them within the Broxtowe borough. He said: “Inevitably young and old people do not mix. We’ve had numerous complaints about behaviour of younger families causing considerable disturbance to the elderly residents. They’re wanting to move out and are in despair in some cases.”
A spokesperson for Broxtowe Borough Council said: “In 2020 we completed a full review of our independent living housing stock and identified a number of properties that were not suitable for independent living. There was very low demand for these properties, and they were sometimes left empty as a suitable applicant who met the independent living criteria could not be found.
“By contrast, the council had increasing numbers of people on our housing register in high housing need that were waiting too long to be rehoused. In April 2021 and April 2022, following consultation with tenants, some of these properties were changed to general needs.
“Over the last three years the council has received minimal complaints regarding this, and the change has allowed us to assist those in the greatest need, such as homeless families and those fleeing domestic abuse. However, Valley Road was not part of this project. Valley Road continues to be independent living, and all properties there have been allocated in accordance with our allocations policy.”
Row over young mum placed in bungalow for the over-55s