Nottingham MP Slams Housing Minister

Housing Minister Grant Shapps promised to visit Nottingham's Meadows estate, but now says he cannot due to "diary commitments".  He was invited by Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood.  Speaking to the Post last May, a spokesman at the department said: "The Minister has received a letter from Lilian Greenwood asking for a visit and it will go ahead, but at the moment the exact time has not been set." However Ms Greenwood has now received a letter from Mr Shapps that states: "I am very sorry but current diary commitments prevent me visiting the estate."  He did not commit to visiting on any date in the future. Ms Greenwood said: "It beggars belief that the housing minister cannot find time to visit. After cutting The Meadows' regeneration funding, he could at least have the decency to fulfil his commitment and see for himself the consequences of that decision. "The Meadows urgently needs investment, and Grant Shapps made a personal commitment to visit. After the funding cuts this snub will add insult to injury."  Read more on the Nottingham Post website.

Hope for Meadows Scheme As Minister Agrees On City Visit

The Minister for Housing has agreed to come to Nottingham after city politicians complained about a £200 million regeneration project being scrapped. Grant Shapps faced lobbying from Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood and the city council after the Government cut a plan which would have seen 1,900 homes in the Meadows rebuilt or revamped. While Mr Shapps would not comment until a date for the visit had been set in stone, civil servants at the Department for Communities and Local Government confirmed that the visit will go ahead. The Meadows Neighbourhood Plan was to have been completed under a Private Finance Initiative, but in November last year the coalition said it would not provide any more funding. The council has been exploring other ways of raising money to complete the regeneration – including raising council rents. Ms Greenwood said: "First we need Grant Shapps to see the huge potential The Meadows has. Then we need him to see some of the problems that are caused by the current layout."

Government Slashes £1.7bn of PFI Funding

The government has withdrawn more than £1.7 billion of housing private finance initiative credits. The decision, announced today, follows a review of the CLG’s spending priorities. Schemes in procurement or under contract will continue to be funded, but pipeline projects in initial design stages will not be. This means all 11 schemes in round six of the housing PFI, which were provisionally allocated £1.7 billion of credits, will have their funding withdrawn. In Nottingham, the Government has said it will not fund the £200 million project to redevelop The Meadows. Nottingham City Council has already spent over £700,000 to develop the proposals, which included hundreds of better homes and improvements to street layouts. Councillor David Liversidge, portfolio holder for Housing Delivery, said: "This is a devastating blow for the Meadows neighbourhood and our citizens who live and work there. Our plans were to transform the area by building new properties and refurbish existing council housing, creating better access to the neighbourhood, investing in better community centres and building new shops. A significant amount of consultation has been carried out with the local community to ensure that the people who live in the Meadows got what they wanted. These changes would have improved their quality of life." He added the scheme would have created hundreds of jobs for local people, particularly in the construction industry. The council has claimed it would have generated £6m for the local economy so the overall impact is massive.Read more on the Nottingham Post website.