Conservative group leader Cllr Linda Huggett (Monkhams) said her members supported the proposed housing budget but feared the council was not building fast enough.
She said: “We are concerned that the council is failing at the current time to deliver. I urge the new cabinet member to start delivering on your housing promises.
“We received £20million in funding from the Greater London Authority to help with our housing shortage, which has still not been used and, if not used soon, will have to be returned.”
In January, Redbridge Council failed the government’s “housing delivery test” after building 1,929 homes in the past three years, less than two thirds of the amount needed according to the London Plan.
Ilford Town Hall and Ilford High Street 21/5/14 EL77212 1. Redbridge Council’s budget for housing after failing the Government’s “delivery test” passed unanimously but not without heated argument. The new cabinet member for housing, announced in January this year, said the council “is going above and beyond” and plans to deliver 1,000 affordable homes by 2022. The Conservative group, despite supporting the budget, argued the council was “failing to deliver” and was “one of the worst performing councils in the country”. This year, a council-owned company Roding Homes, set up in 2019, is expected to become “fully operational” and start letting homes to hundreds of homeless residents.
He insisted that, because officers did not feel the plans broke anti-discrimination laws, councillors could not decide they did as officers “would never be in breach of legislation”.
However, Cllr Paul Canal (Con, Bridge) replied that assessing the effect of plans on marginalised groups was “sometimes a matter of judgement”.
Explaining his reasons for objecting to the minutes, he added: “I have no desire to put the council at risk of costs but I’m also keen to put up a good case if this does go to appeal.”
Legal officer Andrew Swaffer explained concerns about discrimination were not included in the minutes because committee chair Cllr Jyotsna Islam (Lab, Aldborough), who voted for the development, “decided she could not agree”.
Ilford Town Hall and Ilford High Street 21/5/14 EL77212 2. Redbridge councillors angered by seeming erasure of their concerns about disabled parking have ignored legal advice and defied a senior officer. The council s planning committee, made up of nine Labour and two Conservative councillors, voted last night (December 9) not to accept the minutes of the previous meeting (November 19). However, their concern that this would amount to discriminating against the college s 75 disabled students was left out of the minutes after the head of planning argued it was not a worthwhile reason for refusing. The vote, usually a formality, saw only three Labour members agree the minutes written by head of planning Brett Leahy were an accurate reflection of the previous meeting.