Date: 26/08/2010
High Peak Borough Council has stuck by its promise to enable the construction of five affordable homes in a High Peak village.
The homes in West Drive, Tintwistle were to have been developed directly by the Council. Now, following discussions between the Council and Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the houses will be built by the Council in partnership with Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust. The HCA will fund the £310,000 scheme from its East Midlands programme after the Government cut the national Local Authority New Build programme from which the funding was to have been drawn.
Linda Baldry, Executive Councillor for Planning, said she was delighted that the project was to go ahead, helping increase the supply of affordable housing in the High Peak.
"Affordable housing is critical to the sustainability of vibrant communities in which local people can live and work. The Government recognises this fact, which is why it has now confirmed the HCA funding, contrary to premature claims in certain media quarters that the money had been lost.
"Our lobbying of the Treasury on this issue underlines our commitment to securing an adequate supply of decent and affordable housing across High Peak", she stressed.
Margaret Allen, director of HCA East Midlands, said: "The key factor in funding this project was to support the local aspirations of the council, which identified this as one of its major housing priorities.
"The scheme also supports our close work with both High Peak and Derbyshire Dales to guide the creation of a Local Investment Plan which sets out the housing strategy for the coming years in the Peak", she explained.
As well as providing new affordable homes, the project will mean some training and employment opportunities for the local community as the council and its contractors have pledged to use local labour, where possible, to develop the scheme.