Caerphilly borough council plan £200m home improvements (From Campaign Series)

Caerphilly borough council plan £200m home improvements

11:37am Thursday 13th September 2012 in News

CAERPHILLY county borough council's plans of spending £200 million transforming the homes of 13,300 people will take a major step step forward this Autumn.

 

The local authority wants to spend the cash before 2020 in achieving the required Welsh Housing Quality Standard for its stock of council houses.

 

Caerphilly council made achieving it its flagship priority after tenants voted against transferring control to a social landlord earlier this year.

 

It now wants to use the plans as a catalyst for working with tenants to help transform communities and provide better job prospects.

 

A panel of tenants from around the local authority area has been selected, who will meet and discuss how plans for improvements to bathrooms, kitchens, roofs, windows, doors and other parts of properties will be implemented.

 

The local authority’s deputy leader and cabinet member for housing Gerald Jones said councillors will now work alongside tenants, calling this a "significant change" to the way it has worked previously.

 

Deputy chief executive for Caerphilly council, Nigel Barnett said: "We know this major investment in council homes is going to be a catalyst to achieve our wider council objectives including new jobs and training opportunities for local people.

 

On top of this we will be making a substantial investment in improving the physical environment surrounding our communities."

 

Following elections, six tenants were chosen to be a part of the project board. These are Brian Hoskins from Pontywaun, Anna Lewis from Penllwyn, Amanda McConnell from Machen, Sandra Jones from Penyrheol, Clive Davies from Rhymney and Leslie Lewis from New Tredegar.