Minister's gaffe

June 22nd, 2009

It is always good to see Inverclyde hitting the headlines for the right reasons.

So I was pleased to see the launch of a new 335-house project by River Clyde Homes make the tea-time news last week.

This development is another major step in regenerating the area and vindicates those tenants who unlocked much-needed funds by voting in favour of housing stock transfer.

But for me, the announcement was marred by an embarrassing gaffe by the housing minister Alex Neil.

He claimed to the cameras: “It has been many years since new homes were built for rent in Inverclyde.”

That would be a surprise to our friends at Cloch and Oak Tree, the housing associations who have been making fantastic progress with their own housing projects.

In fact, I was invited along to a key handover ceremony at Maukinhill just a fortnight ago, where proud tenants are in the process of moving in to new homes rather than just looking at artist’s impressions and site plans.

Not to be outdone, Oak Tree has spent millions on new build projects in the last year and I look forward to see those for myself when they are completed in September and October.

So I will be writing to Mr Neil demanding recognition of these efforts.

The irony, of course, is that there would be no announcement on new homes at Broadfield Avenue for the Housing Minister to attend if tenants had listened to his advice and voted against housing stock transfer.

Asked to cut the sod at the new development, he ended up making a sod of himself and will need that shovel to get out of the hole he has dug for himself.

We know the real credit should go to Cloch, Oak Tree, River Clyde Homes for their hard work and commitment, and to those tenants, who seized the opportunity to grab the funding available, took matters into their own hands and are now enjoying the benefits.