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Meacher attacks plan for £4.5m HMR cut
Date published: 20 July 2010
Oldham West and Royton MP Michael Meacher has attacked Government plans to cut £4.5 million from Oldham’s Housing Market Renewal (HMR) scheme.
HMR schemes bring together local councils, regional development agencies, and public and private-sector leaders to improve development and investment in housing.
Mr Meacher said that since 2002, more than £16,606 million has been spent in the North-West but the new coalition government has cut Labour’s plans to invest a further £311million by £50million.
Mr Meacher said that in addition, Housing Minister Grant Sharp had put the whole HMR scheme under review, with many people expecting more funding cuts this summer.
Mr Meacher said: “To target communities which most need investment after bearing the brunt of the recession is unforgivable.
“This government should hang their heads in shame that they are cutting millions of pounds in regeneration funding from an area like Oldham, which needs this help and are being hit hardest by the government’s housing cuts.
“Now is exactly the wrong time to be cutting back investment in long-term regeneration schemes, which bring improvement in local communities and good quality jobs.
“It is clear that the Conservative-Liberal-Democrat coalition will scrap the whole scheme after the summer if they can get away with it.”
Comments
Does this mean then, that as they have not got the required funding, they will be rescinding ALL c.p.o's immediately so we can get back to our lives, and do with our homes what we intended to do before they came on the scene..!!!!!!!
lee, i too work in the construction idunstry and i see first hand whats letting it down. the banks are not releasing the money!
they are holdng it all up even though they where bailed out by the previous government.
but labour where to gung-ho with their spending and where wasting it on projects thay where not required.
its this waste the coalition is getting rid of.
even so oldham where too slow off the starting blocks in all these scheme and are now stuck with nowt!
Fedup - I Agree, although I would rather be in employment earning money for my family than being sat at home racking money off the state because the new coalition thinks this is somehow paying off a debt. I'm unsure of the projects that are not required? we are talking about regeneration of a crumbling school framework which is PFI! this includes "private" monies not all goverment cash. For me increasing funding to education in foreign countries when our own country is in need is false economy.
Construction is key for Oldham's economy. The sooner that the money starts flowing again, the sooner firms can start building the properties that people want to buy, the sooner that suppliers can start providing the materials, the sooner that workers will have money to spend and the sooner that other retailers will have customers. Withdrawing this cash is typical ConDem short-sightedness.
C.Ayre,and who is going to clear up the mess?I hope you enjoy living in your little palace surrounded by decomposing properties.
wiseowl. What mess is that then? the only mess ever created was by the neglect of properties once that they were 'acquired' by HMR. No decomposing properites near me just an empty shell that was once a thriving community
Have Your Say
I'm in the construction industry and although our company does absolutley no work for Oldham, due to their ties with Carillion (nothing like competition hey!) This just means less jobs, the Schools PFI work has all but dried up which with no private investment and the banks still unable to fund new construction work = more on the dole. A sad sad time for the construction industry and more strain for many families. I suppose thats what you get for listening to the lies of the new coalition!
By Lee @ 20/07/2010 12:04:01