CONVENER CALLS FOR EXTRA MONEY, NOT POLITICS ON HOUSING NEEDS
ANGUS Council Neighbourhood Services convener councillor Jim Millar is calling for cross party support in Angus to help the council secure more resources from government to address the county's housing needs.
Commenting on recent articles about the shortage of family housing, again highlighted by Paris and Nicola's story, councillor Millar said: "The council recognises that we have people in houses which are too small for their growing families and recent cases show the absolute need for housing investment to be prioritised in Scotland.
"The reality is that people do have to wait for larger houses as there are not enough to meet current need and that is why Angus Council is exploring every avenue to make more houses available for rent and building new homes across the county.
"In Angus our approach to homelessness and housing allocations is based on Scottish law and current guidance. There has been no change to the council's position since 2006 when the previous administration agreed the approach – indeed only this year our approach has received praise from Shelter Scotland for being clearly based on housing need."
Two offers
Councillor Millar said the current approach gives all applicants two offers of housing. "In this particular case we are following the usual process, by prioritising according to need and we will make a second offer of housing but we can only do this when a suitable property becomes available."
Commenting on the need for more investment in housing councillor Millar said: "Sadly the Scottish Government housing investment programme in Angus is the lowest in mainland Scotland despite the clear need for additional family housing.
"As Councillor Middleton is aware many people in Angus have benefited from buying council housing at a discount - but that housing has not been replaced. In the past 15 to 20 years there have been no council funded family houses built in Angus.
"But this is changing – under this council around 10 million pounds is now being invested to build 83 new homes for the elderly and families across the county; the first new investment in family homes in decades."
Councillor Millar added: "The council has been working with developers and housing associations in Forfar to develop the Newmonthill and the former Guide Dog sites on Dundee Road but those plans have had to be shelved because the Scottish Government slashed Angus's housing development budget by 45% or some 2 million. That cut meant our plans for valuable family homes have had to be put on hold while the council works to bridge the funding gap created by the government."
Concluding councillor Millar said: "I am really disappointed that party politics seems to creeping in as we have worked extremely hard to build a cross party consensus on housing matters. The extremely constructive cross party discussion we have had with the Housing Minister has resulted in many of our ideas now being reflected in current government consultation documents.
"This positive approach continues and I will be holding a series of cross party briefings this month in advance of our next committee meeting to agree the council's response to these important national consultations and to help target our local investment plans.
"It is vital that all members of the council pull together, and not against each other, as we fight Angus' corner to secure the housing investment we desperately need. Angus Council is making a record investment to build new homes for Angus people – but the government needs to show the same political will to address Scotland's housing shortfall."
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Weather for Forfar
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
