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| Councillor Maureen Robinson |
Conservative Councillors in the New Forest have yielded to Lib Dem pressure to put the problem of affordable housing high up on the agenda.
At a meeting of the New Forest District Council tonight, the Tory Leader, Mel Kendal, was forced to acknowledge that there was much work to be done in tackling the problem of the shortage of affordable housing in the New Forest area.
The Council were in the process of approving the Annual Performance Plan, a document that highlighted under performance in the area of housing.
Lib Dem Leader, Cllr. Maureen Robinson, welcomed the apparent determination of the ruling group to get to grips with the problem in coming months but said “the fine words must be backed up by action.
The figures in the report are nearly two years out of date and the problem of shortage of affordable housing is even worse than appears from the statistics”.
Deputy Lib Dem Leader, Cllr. David Harrison, said “I referred to a housing crisis in the New Forest at the last meeting of the Cabinet.
I don’t think there is a single Councillor on this Authority who doesn’t agree that this matter requires concentrated action”.
He referred to the number of second homes in the New Forest, pointing out that in the New Forest village of Burley, nearly 50% of homes are now second homes.
The Liberal Democrat group are prepared to support the Conservatives in taking decisive action to improve the availability of affordable housing in the New Forest. |
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