Housing group walk out of neighbourhood talks
Row regarding discussions for improving area
South Lanarkshire Council and Healthy n’ Happy have been accused of spreading unreliable information and ignoring minority ethnic groups, in an extraordinary row regarding improving Whitlawburn and Springhall.
West Whitlawburn Housing Co- Operative and Whitlawburn Community Resource Centre have now walked out on the ongoing neighbourhood plan discussions.
They have listed several concerns regarding the process, which started last November and aims to reduce inequality in the area by working with local people to address their concerns.
Central to the argument is that the housing co-op, the main landlord in the area, wanted BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) groups involved in the consultation.
They were also left furious over a document published last month which stated, following a survey, that action was required on refurbishment of existing housing stock and that landlords should be more responsive.
The housing co-op believe that no distinction was made between South Lanarkshire Council properties and their own properties, which they say were not mentioned by survey respondents as needing action.
They then asked that an insert be included with the document to clarify this, which the council denied.
South Lanarkshire Council strongly denied the allegations, saying that the survey carried out was randomised.
The housing co-op’s director, Paul Farrell, said: “We have been extremely disappointed with how this has been handled.
“Around 12 per cent of our residents are BAME and they have been excluded from this process.
“Our intention is to work positively for the area and that hasn’t been able to happen in this situation.” The statement said: “West Whitlawburn Housing Co- operative and Whitlawburn Community Resource Centre have reluctantly withdrawn from The Springhall and Whitlawburn Neighbourhood Planning process due to serious concerns with the manner in which this process is being developed by South Lanarkshire Council and it’s agent Heathy n Happy Community Development Trust.
“WWHC, the predominant landlord, and by far the most significant community anchor organisation in the area, was initially excluded (along with WCRC) from participating in the neighbourhood planning process by South Lanarkshire Council/Healthy n’ Happy.
“Latterly, having been invited to two meetings in April/May this year, WWHC raised considerable concerns with SLC/HnH about the manner in which the process was being managed and developed.
“These concerns centred on ambiguous, unreliable and unfounded information being placed in the public domain and, very concerningly, the exclusion of minority ethnic groups from the consultation.
“WWHC requested that SLC/HnH accurately impart clear, unambiguous information to the community and asked SLC/HnH to actively include minority ethnic groups in the consultation process.
“SLC/ HnH consciously refused to agree to either of these requests, leaving WWHC/ WCRC with no option but to disengage and disassociate from, what we now consider to be, a fundamentally flawed process.”
Paul Manning, Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Resources at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “A household study was commissioned through Healthy n’ Happy which asked local residents broad questions about their views of their neighbourhood and what might be done to improve it.
“This randomised survey was carried out on hundreds of doorsteps across the area and included a number of local residents who belong to minority ethnic groups.
“While the survey did not specifically ask about housing, responses from residents included comments about this subject but these were general comments and did not identify particular landlords.
“It was always intended that the results of the survey would inform further debate, and this has been ongoing with communities and key stakeholders since then, with the aim of establishing a ten-year plan for the area.
“West Whitlawburn Housing Cooperative has been kept informed of this process from the beginning and representatives have taken part in discussions around the findings of the survey.
“As a local landlord and significant stakeholder, we would hope they would continue to take part in these ongoing discussions.”