Housing problems will get worse before they get better, council bosses have admitted, after revealing that targets to build affordable housing are to be slashed.
Herefordshire Council has said the plans to improve upon the 212 affordable homes built last year would be scrapped due to the current economic climate.
The council is currently at the mercy of private housebuilders, relying on them to provide 35% of new-builds as affordable housing. When they fail to meet their targets, so does the council. During this recession many housebuilders have put projects on hold meaning that at a time when there is a greater need for cheap housing, the availability is actually going down.
We revealed in our last issue how more than 5,000 people are currently on local housing waiting lists, with just 10–15 housing association properties becoming available a week.
Since the beginning of last year we have seen Herefordshire Council make plans to close 40 schools across the county, plus a day-care centre in Kington. The council has gone ahead with the closure of the LEA swimming pool, despite huge public feeling that it should be reopened and plans are also in the pipeline to withdraw funding from many rural bus services that provide a lifeline for villagers across Herefordshire. And now it is slashing its affordable housing targets over the next two years to 220 and 275 new homes in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
These certainly aren’t unimportant local services that are being cut; we’re not talking about the council not having the money to paint all the double-yellow lines it had planned to, or that there isn’t enough money for an extra bin on the Castle Green for dog mess. In the case of housing, this is a basic human need and yet our council are prepared to invest £130 million on a bypass for Hereford but nothing to help build new houses. Already, millions has been wasted on the much-hated Edgar Street Grid development, millions of pounds that could’ve been spent on the new homes that are so desperately needed.
Of all the council’s plans to help county homeowners, the most significant has been to allocate £900,000 to help 15 households a year struggling with mortgage payments. Yes, only 15! Fifteen households! Thanks a lot, Roger. (What a joke!)
It’s clear where the Tory council’s priorities lie—not with people’s actual needs but with some disgusting idea of ‘development’ to attract huge multinational companies to the city, whilst the rest of us are worrying about where we’ll be living next month, as we queue to get in to the overcrowded Leisure Pool or wait for a bus that might never turn up.
Houses, or more shops? Clearly it’s more shops we need. How could we be so naïve.
Find out your rights as a tenant by visiting www.adviceguide.org.uk
It has come to our attention here at Heckler HQ that the Hereford Farmers’ Club has been used to host meetings of the local fascist British National Party—a fact that the club are well aware of.
Facilitating fascism is something we thought our readers may take a bit of a disliking to so we are asking all club members or regular patrons to boycott the club until they stop hosting BNP meetings.
Give them a call on 01432 272247 and let them know what you think.
This backlash is fuelled by people looking for a scapegoat for the social and economic problems we are faced with.
It is clear that we have big social problems in Herefordshire, but the blame doesn’t lie with foreign workers and immigrants for the social and economic problems we are facing. The fault lies with the rich and powerful, the people who created this mess! Wealthy bankers and politicians are screwing us all over—they are the ones to blame. Bosses, bankers and politicians rip us all off no matter where we’re from. It is because of this that we have to fight together!
Ordinary people have been fighting back to protect their jobs, protect their children’s education, and to protect themselves from the current situation.
* Workers in a Dundee packaging factory occupied their workplace for 51 days after being told their contracts were being terminated without redundancy pay.
* Workers from car components firm Visteon have been involved in large-scale actions across the country, with occupations, solidarity pickets and demos happening in plants at Belfast, Basildon and Enfield. The workers have been taking action in response to the company’s plans to 200 staff. Actions are continuing with workers vowing to carry on until their demands of a decent redundancy package are met!
* Parents occupied two schools in Glasgow after they were earmarked for closure by the council, along with 25 others. Marches and vigils have been held in solidarity with the school occupations and the parents have received overwhelming support.
* Occupations have also taken place at Lewisham Bridge Primary School in south London in protest at plans to close the school. Visteon workers have also linked up with parents to help occupy the building.
So don’t fight people because they are from another country, or because they live in a different estate to you or are from the other side of the river! Fight alongside each other like the sacked Visteon workers or the Glasgow parents. Fight against the ones stealing your future. Stand against all politicians, the bosses and those in power. Together we are strong!
For a riotous read visit www.classwaruk.org
