On Friday 10 January, I was pleased to visit the old Hengrove airfield to see the progress being made on 53 vital new genuinely affordable Bristol City Council homes for rent or shared ownership, adjacent to South Bristol Community Hospital and Hengrove Park Leisure Centre.
The project has provided employment and training opportunities for local people, with two apprentices on site with the builders, Hill Group. The site, once complete, will also provide commercial units and community spaces.
However, later on Friday 10 January, documents revealed by the Council made it clear they are considering ripping up the existing commitment for Council homes at the nearby New Fosseway site and elsewhere in Bristol. The documents also propose selling 1,222 existing Council owned homes.
I was fortunate to have the security of a council house when I was growing up. I know from experience the difference having a stable home makes. With thousands of families desperate for a safe, secure and permanent home we need many more Council homes, not fewer.
It is extremely troubling that the Green-led council are proposing the sale of over 1,200 existing council houses. It is not clear which homes might be sold off, leaving 27,000 households, many of whom I represent, in limbo.
The council should quickly clarify their plans so that the thousands of Bristolians who could be affected are not left with a cloud hanging over their living situation.
Approval has been granted for upwards of 1,400 homes across the site in Hengrove which will all be developed by Goram Homes, the council owned company, in partnership with contractors from the private sector. The original plan was for more than 700 council homes, which is now in doubt.