Telford & Wrekin Council Watch

Full Council

 

Tonight’s Full Council was very lively and as expected the Housing Summit was eventful.

 

The bottom is falling out of the housing market for a wide variety of reasons, so for the average person, there is not a right time to buy nor is there a right to sell, but there is a right tme to rent.

 

The current situation in the UK is proving that, as buying and selling has almost stopped and the rental demand within the private sector has increased. Along with this has increased the price of rent in what is largely an unregulated sector open to abuse by some landlords.

 

The right to buy was a success in the fact that it allowed residents to buy their home at a discounted price and the sale of Council Housing stock to associations have both been fundamental errors, only now is this really being realised.

 

Both systems saw the whole sale of housing stock, some people making a fast buck. It is unfortunate that the sale of housing stock to associations saw rents increase and units sold, but when sold, they were and are not replaced.

 

The concentration then became on “Affordable Housing”, with the aim being to ensure that key workers were given a priority. Here again, this caused a number of problems. There was no strict definition of a key worker and developers sales policies differ to such a great extent that there is no continuity throughout the market and it became open season, those that could afford got to buy.

 

Shared equity failed to take off with the WHT having less than 100 residents having taken up the option but the queue to rent is now around 12,000 and a housing stock of a little over 10,000 units down from over 14,000.

 

The buy to let saw mortgages being given out by the dozen and one person could easily get multiple mortgages and the housing market almost became by 4 get 1 free because of discounts given when buying from new.

 

And in the mix came irresponsible lending, commission hunters, rapid build leading to faulty builds.

 

The credit crunch as it is called, could lead to rebirth to stop and regulate irresponsible lending, knock on the head the commission hunters, sort out housing associations and give more power to the local authority.

 

Residents need to get back to having the security of knowing they have a home for life, they need to have a say, buy doing this we will finally begin to return the sense of ownership, the sense of belonging, thus and ultimately the sense of community and finally the return of community pride.

 

By working together and leaving politics at the door, I believe that Telford and Wrekin now has a unique opportunity and could easily become the Trail Breakers on housing. By working together and being prepared to identify areas than can be improved without passing blame we can move forward.

 

Criticism has to be made, but it has to made in a constructive manner that identifies an area that needs improvement, but at the same time saying what is being done well.

 

Telford and Wrekin will have all eyes watching and I for one believe we can do it well and stop being one of the best, but become the best. Openness, honesty and commitment will ensure this happens.

 

Councillor Keith Austin tabled the following motion to Full Council on 25^th Sept 08,

 

 

On the face of it, it could read that he was trying to score some points, but when he spoke, he certainly got away from that and having been in contact with Keith prior to the meeting, I believe his intentions were honourable.

 

The housing summit will involve many and it will naturally evolve, take its own shape, this is how the idea was formed initially.

 

I will take the opportunity to clear one issue, in 2006, the name “Housing Summit” came from MP David Wright and the name evolved out of talking and sharing ideas to and frow.

 

I will also take the opportunity to clear a second issue. MP Mark Pritchards office have worked hard on housing issues, but the key stone a drive within this office was Cllr Denis Allen who worked long and hard. Unfortunately for MP Mark Pritchard, he dropped the ball on housing issues when Denis went onto other duties and has not recovered. Having tried to get replies from him and his office unsuccessfully lies testament to that.

 

Whilst we know about regeneration, LDF, LAA, BFI etc, these cannot be employed as tactics to cloud issues with Liverpool being one example of this and take away from the nature of the Housing Summit, often the best answers and ideas are the simplest.

 

Out of acorns oak trees grow.

 

The Inner Sanctum

 

Many residents have a good knowledge of the workings of politics, but in the main, the majority are a layman who view issues in a simplistic manner, which inevitably leads to questions being asked, if you don’t receive an answer, you draw your own conclusions,

 

Take the Councillors allowances as an example

 

2005/2006 - £613377.00
2006/2007 - £628657.44
2007/2008 - £593385.44

 

The proposals that are to be put forward on Thursday will see the bill go to over

 

£700,000

 

Regardless of how many times a politician runs around the Wrekin scattering confetti, this is seen as a substantial increase, but for what, will the resident actually benefit more for the increase, its open to debate often coming down to personal experience.

 

How many people have asked for help, only never to get it or passed from one office to the next?

 

How many people have asked for information, that should be given freely and easily, but have had to fight to get it?

 

Yes, local and national politics is a complex issue, but what can be done to simplify it, maybe not a lot, but if the public were able to be involved even more, get to ask questions and receive a direct answer, this could resolve a lot of miss understandings.

 

Just because you ask questions, it doesn’t mean you’re a trouble causer.

 

You can compliment, but dare you criticise, then someone will be out accusing you of stirring it, or if you quote written information, you are accused of miss leading the public.

 

Should any person really need to subscribe to one political party to get an answer?

 

NO, they shouldn’t have to.  

 

Having previously contacted Councillors and asked if I could spend time with them to gain an insight, I was not surprised when no one even replied to my request.

 

Would Councillors be prepared to take up a full independent audit of how they spend their time?

 

I don’t think they would.

 

It is an illusion that Councillors are elected to represent. How many act as directors of companies, trustees of charities, sit at Borough and Parish level, sit on outside bodies, act as assistants, attend other meetings else where.

 

So how can they actually represent in the traditional sense of what we believe a Councillor is about.

 

A number of residents support their community in the best way they can. Many residents take calls from others asking for help or advice, if you were a politician, this would be considered part of the job, not community spirit.

 

I acknowledge that we have many good politicians, who are good people, but not many will accept that recent mistakes have been avoidable, someone chooses to cover up, then cover up the cover up.

 

Only by openness, only by involving residents will the situation improve, this will give a sense of belonging and ownership. Defending the indefensible has to stop and simply being honest has to start.