Council Overspend

[Bonnyboy]

Originally Posted by BERNADETTE

If it was viable when first proposed why not now?? Not really bothered one way or another, well yes I am because it seems to be a u-turn on what was said to the home owners/tenants.

Looks like the work is more in depth than originally anticipated.

The blokes that originally built these homes obviously knew nowt, the houses only stood 100 years or so, now the ground is dodgy or “ un-predictable”

[Neil]

I think we are missing the point here. Who owns these houses? Why is our money paying to sort out this problem? If they are privately owned then they should be claiming on house insurance for the instability problems.

The council's development manager, Helen McCue Melling, revealed the scale of the problem in a report to councillors. She said: "The block needs substantially more work than previously thought, due to poor construction and un-predictable ground conditions. There are serious problems with the block's stability as a whole, likely to constitute a hazard."

She goes on to say the block is further affected by poorly constructed kitchen and loft conversions that do not meet current building regulations. When more inspections have been completed, including a structural survey, a further report will be prepared for cabinet councillors outlining a preferred course of action.

If the houses have kitchen extentions and loft conversion that are not to standard then it is up to the home owner to sort out. I wonder if any of these iffy kitchen extension's have planning permission?

[Bonnyboy]

Fair point Neil, the home owners should have insurance, some may not.

Any mortgages outstanding on the properties by law should have insurance cover.

[BERNADETTE]

As I stated earlier and was prepared to be corrected, I think that these home improvement grants come from the goverment and it is then down to the council how these grants are shared out. If the money is wasted who is to blame???

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by g jones

Posted via Mobile Device

You go into ASDA spend £50, go sit in the cafe and think about how you can pull the wool over the eyes of the people you promised to spend the other £150 on.

Only in the weird and wonderful world of Graham Jones

[g jones]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Only in the weird and wonderful world of Graham Jones

I think it is quite simple. Budgets have been set. Promises made on money we either don't have or gambled we may receive. Then there are overspends. As was reported there then needs to be cuts. Pendle St demolition is estimated at £1.8m. We cannot afford it. We only promised it so a certain person could get more votes. Not because it was thought out or right. Even Ryddings Park is bearing the brunt of cuts. What did happen to that £1m Lottery Bid?

There are cuts right across the Borough so we can deal with Pendle St.
Posted via Mobile Device

[katex]

Are we not getting our flower towers then ?? Loved those ... sob, sob.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by g jones

Even Ryddings Park is bearing the brunt of cuts. What did happen to that £1m Lottery Bid?

The lottery bid was submitted a couple of months ago, no issue there. We'll probably find out in Oct/Nov whether we've got it. Then there'll be a detailed consultation process. Work won't start until 2009-10 anyway so to be honest, I'm not 100% sure why it was budgeted for in this year's budget. So taking it out of the 2008-09 budget won't affect the park either way.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Gayle

We'll probably find out in Oct/Nov whether we've got it.

Are you going away for a couple of months, I am hoping to hear by August ( if not the middle of July).

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Neil

Are you going away for a couple of months, I am hoping to hear by August ( if not the middle of July).

'Bad Girls -The Musical' runs until the end of October, at the end of Blackpool pier.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by Neil

Are you going away for a couple of months, I am hoping to hear by August ( if not the middle of July).

So soon, I forgot the dates and made a guess. Even so, by the time the second consultation happens, there won't be any spend in 08-09 anyway it will all be in 09-10.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Originally Posted by Bonnyboy

Fair point Neil, the home owners should have insurance, some may not.

Any mortgages outstanding on the properties by law should have insurance cover.

And they will have - and there will have been no cause to claim until the council has come along to do these improvements and done surveys and found there are problems. When did the problems arise? Who knows, but when a mortgage is granted they do surveys and if the houses had been unstable then they would never have got a mortgage, or insurance. So presumably something has happened in the meanwhile. Maybe something underground has shifted. 20 years ago we looked at a house on Countess Street and had a survey done and it came out that there was subsidence so we walked away from it. Subsidence isn't down to original shoddy building. It can be caused by erosion underground or collapsing mines or goodness knows what.

£130k per house? Their market value will be less than that. How much will the residents get if the houses are compulsorarily demolished? Enough to buy a new house? Not if 'Project Phoenix' is anything to go by.

HBC has done a lot to improve housing standards in the area under the grant scheme because there was and still is a lot of substandard housing. When it has been done it makes the whole area look a lot better and puts up the value all round. They came up Ormerod Street doing batches, but never got round the corner to us.

[andrewb]

Originally Posted by g jones

The Revenue Budget first. We did what every Council has done since about 1997 - put an amendment in that must be ratified as acceptable by the Chief Finance Officer. No-one has ever put in an alternate budget. Your getting muddled and totally confused in what you're saying.

No I am not. An amendment budget is the same as an alternative budget, you're keeping the things you like from the proposed budget and offering an alternative to the things you don't. The result being an alternative budget!

Every opposition since 1999 (and perhaps before I haven't checked) has offered one, THREE independents offered one this year. Labour decided to propose a tax cut but offered no budget at all, even with 15? Members to come up with one.

Even last year Labour offered a more detailed budget, including the scrapping of floral decorations to cut costs. I think people generally like the floral decorations.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by andrewb

I think people generally like the floral decorations.

I am sure they do, they also like to pay less tax or have cleaner streets or the many other things Hyndburn needs maintenance wise before we try and cover up the mess with flowers.