THE leader of Harlow Labour has responded to the news that Harlow Council is set to buy Terminus House.

Councillor James Griggs said: “The announced intention to buy Terminus House is welcome news, it is entirely sensible for the Council to own as much of the town as possible.

“It’s what it does with it in the long and short term that matters.

“I have frequently criticised the disgraceful language of the Conservative leadership when they refer to the residents of Terminus House as having been ‘dumped’ here by Labour run London Boroughs. It’s an inhumane term intended to inflame prejudices and it’s factually incorrect. We are talking about fellow humans and their homes.

There is much to unpack from the situation.

1. By no means do all of the current residents originate from London Boroughs. Residents have been housed here by a variety of councils including those run by conservative administrations. You’re not told that by Harlow Conservatives because it doesn’t suit their prejudicial narrative.

2. There are a significant number of private renters living in Terminus House. They’ve chosen to make Harlow their home, should they be sent off to live elsewhere?

3. Families living there have children in local schools, adults working in local businesses and services. Many have been there for years and are now firmly rooted in our communities.

4. The suggestion that people living there are a ‘drain’ on local services is idiotic. All residents of Harlow use local services, the notion that residents of Terminus House use them more is just plain stupid. If the building was full only of people who were born in Harlow would they use services less? Of course not.

5. Local charity Streets to Homes has housed people here as a first step to getting them back on their feet. Whats to become of them?

6. Some residents have been housed here with a support package to help them after falling on hard times or as part of a rehabilitation programme. Sadly, those responsible for delivering those support packages have frequently failed miserably, content to take exhorbitent rents and not deliver the care for which they are paid. This is how one resident was allowed to lie dead in their flat for weeks before being found.

7. The Conservative Leader talks of anti-social behaviour but fails to recognise that it is largely attributable to the failure of those supposed to deliver support and care packages to residents.

I know many will welcome the news of the purchase of Terminus House thinking it will solve a multitude of problems if the residents are deported from our Town. But I would urge them to think again. It is not only our town, it is their town too.

There are huge numbers of current Harlow residents who were born elsewhere but chose to make Harlow their home, myself and Cllr Swords included.

I know many of the residents of Terminus House and can state with absolute certainty that there are a majority who are good, kind, compassionate and hard working people. Just the same as in all of our neighbourhood communities.

Don’t be fooled into swallowing the Conservative narrative that they are all bad and things would be better if they were banished from Harlow. If you think for one moment that by doing so there will be a sudden abundance of properties for Harlow residents to rent, think again. I’d draw your attention to the Burnt Mills development which has only now, after a year of standing empty, started to take in its first few residents and none of them are paying council/social rent rates, they’re all paying a commercial rent or what is laughably described as an affordable rent.

Harlow needs more social housing at rents people can genuinely afford but Harlow Conservatives are failing to deliver on that need, choosing instead to back developers where profit not social need is the priority.

Harlow Homes for Harlow People may be a good soundbite but it’s currently a long way from a practical reality!

“My number one priority is the fair and decent treatment of the residents throughout this process. In the past couple of weeks we’ve seen the residents of Redstone House receive appalling treatment at the hands of their landlords, I cannot stand by and allow the same disgusting attitudes to prevail in the handling of Terminus House”.