Local Conservatives call for Labour administration to get going with bid from new two billion pound fund.
The Government has invited councils to bid for a slice of the £2.3 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund which will be available to help build new schools, healthcare centres and digital infrastructure to accommodate growing communities and alleviate pressure on local public services that all communities rely on.
With a severe shortage of new homes being built in Brighton and Hove, the local Conservative group have welcomed the launch of the new fund from Central Government that allows homes to be built faster for ordinary working families.
In welcoming the new initiative, the Conservative Group in Brighton & Hove say they have long been concerned that the Council’s citywide strategic plan has failed to adequately consider the much-needed infrastructure to support additional homes and welcomed this new Government initiative.
Cllr Mary Mears, the Conservative Housing Spokesperson, said: “Ensuring access to good schools, parking, shops, doctors’ surgeries, employment and sports and leisure facilities are available as well as improving roads, countering potential traffic issues and avoiding increased pollution as a result is an absolute must for successful long-term development in the city.
“This fund looks to tackle this specific issue, and we are calling on Warren Morgan and the Council to put together a positive and constructive bid to get things moving in the city so that we can allow more hard-working local people to buy the homes they want and deserve in the near future. We say ‘Let’s get building – No more delays!”
Leader of the Conservative Group, Tony Janio, added: “we are pleased that the Government has recognised what we have long been saying locally that by investing in local infrastructure we can help unlock building thousands of new homes in areas where they are needed the most.”
A Labour spokesperson responded: “We welcome new funding options, and would bid as appropriate. However, government initiatives like this can’t paper over deep and ongoing cuts to council funding – nationally there is an estimated £5.8bn funding gap to 2020. And for the local Conservatives to call on us to start building when we have the first new council houses built in the city in recent times being delivered by a Labour council, and when our living wage homes joint venture was held up in committee, the public can draw their own conclusions on who is working hardest to provide new homes.
“It is also not the case as suggested that the City Plan has ‘failed to adequately consider’ infrastructure needs. The preparation of the City Plan and its component parts was a cross-party initiative and was unanimously agreed at Full Council on March 24 2016, and an Annex to the plan covering Infrastructure Delivery was agreed at committee on June 22 2017.”
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