OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.
This from Ieuan Jehu. Ed
The record of the outgoing government speaks for itself: their failure to deliver planning reform has left the Island open to exploitation by housing developers adverse to building social housing, while our council flounders in their attempts to get a Planning Strategy past a group of obstructive Conservative councillors.
And their decision not to scrap Section 21 “no-fault” evictions (of which 20 per cent of those currently being accommodated by the IW council were victims) has left many more Island families open to the threat of homelessness in the future.
Educational outcomes worsened
Island children are having their educational outcomes worsened while they stress over when their family will have a home of their own, and every Islander is facing higher Council Tax bills as a consequence of the inadequate supply of social housing.
Manifesto commitments
For this reason I am heartened to see that Labour have made commitments in their manifesto to reform planning legislation, deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation (with a pledge of increased funding for local councils), and reform the private rental sector – including putting an end to Section 21 “no-fault” evictions.
Local priorities
Most of all, I’m pleased to see from their election literature, that our local Labour candidate has put at the top of their list of priorities “ensuring that every Islander has the opportunity to have their own front door”.
