tenpin

2020-01-25 14:17:39

I would like to say thank you to the editor for posting this short part of the cabinet meeting, one that readers are more likely to view than that of the full meeting. So readers may be wondering why we asked these questions? Firstly, the Local Plans of Harlow Council and those surrounding the town (collectively known as the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town project) will see some 15 to 20 thousands homes being built in the next 13 years. Now this you might think is good news for the thousands of families who are on the housing waiting lists of these councils, but when you start to delve down further you find a very different situation. Harlow Council has had hundreds of tenants buy their homes in recent years resulting in the number of homes they own falling by 636 in just 7 years. The maximum number of homes that the Council will build in the next 13 years will be 500 and whilst it continues to build houses, many of these will be sold to tenants exercising their Right To Buy. So to suggest that these plans do anything to solve the need of those waiting for a council home is simply not true. The fact is, that whilst it is true to say that the Government require Council's to meet house building targets and work with nearby Councils, the deal signed by a previous leader of Harlow Council was a very poor one for this town and it's residents. Secondly, we asked about the consultation that was supposed to have started this week, but postponed with a couple of days notice. The fact is, the Harvey Centre was booked for last Wednesday, it was not the case that no dates have been set, indeed this has now been rearranged for the week after next. When we asked if the many residents associations in the town were going to be consulted it was clear that up to now their was no intention to do so. These questions are just the start of the Harlow Alliance Party scrutinising the Council, whose members have failed to respond to any questions raised in letters sent to yourharlow. We have a queue of members wishing to raise questions, we are certainly not just a Party consisting of two people as suggested by Cllr Purton later on in the meeting.