Housing cash put under threat after council clash

Oct 18 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

A BID for up to £30m of government cash by Wirral to regenerate some of its most run-down areas was put under threat last night after political groups on the council clashed.

The latest stage of the multi-million pound New Heartlands project was submitted by the council last month and agreed by its cabinet.

But last night, minutes before the deadline expired, opposition Conservative councillor Leah Fraser used the rarely-used “call-in” procedure to halt the bid.

She believes Wirral Council is repeatedly favouring Birkenhead over deprived areas of Wallasey.

The cabinet member for housing, Cllr George Davies (Lab), denounced the move as “totally reckless” and accused Cllr Fraser of playing politics with much-needed cash.

Last night Cllr Fraser, who represents Liscard, which includes the Egremont area, defended the move, which was backed by four other Conservative councillors.

Under the Housing Market Renewal Initiative, cash is made available to clear areas of dereliction and refurbish other homes to attract homebuyers into an area.

Cllr Fraser said the council’s first bid recognised that parts of Wallasey, mainly Seacombe and Egremont, were in urgent need of “renewal” .

“It’s time for the council to put up or shut up. We can no longer sit by and watch as millions are poured into Birkenhead while parts of the Wallasey community are left to rot.

“We have argued for several years that the council needs to include Wallasey in bids such as this, but to no avail.

“We have therefore taken the decision to put the council’s leaders in the hot spot – tell us, in public, why Wallasey is being neglected or risk losing the millions you want for Birkenhead.

“Egremont has been identified time and time again as being badly in need of regeneration, some houses have literally fallen down while we have been waiting for investment.

“Just £4.34 in every £100 of money is going to Egremont.

“The people of Egremont deserve better than this. They have the same right as anyone else to expect the council will maintain the physical environment around them.”

She said the Conservative councillors would be demanding full public scrutiny and inviting representatives of the Egremont community to put their case at a special committee meeting.

If the council fails to submit the existing bid to the Government by the first week in November, the bid could be lost.

Cllr Davies said it could mean Liverpool and Sefton could effectively “grab” Wirral’s share of the funding if it appeared there were problems with the borough’s bid.

liammurphy