ONE of the most recurring grumbles in our post bag is over the unfair way council properties are allocated.
We appreciate this is not a simple task and officials have to balance a wide range of priorities.
But you can have no more prominent voice than that of the Housing Minister, Caroline Flint, to confirm that there is something seriously wrong with t
he current situation and that change is desperately needed.
The Doncaster MP branded the system as 'demeaning and dysfunctional', rewarding families or individuals who 'present themselves as practically on the verge of collapse'.
In too many cases, these are simply people who have learned every trick in the housing book and know how to play the system to their own ends.
Known for her uncompromising approach (she suggested that unemployed tenants should have to seek work or face losing their homes), Ms Flint recognises the flaws in a system which encourages indolence, describing it as a 'race to the bottom'.
Now we look forward to her using her position of influence to ensure council houses are not simply there to cater for those who reach the pit of desperation. That is not a way to build a vibrant community, it simply feeds dysfunctional ones.
Don't waste time and cash on talksLABOUR'S enthusiasm for 'consultation' seems to know no bounds. Just as they were hell-bent on 'consulting' over plans to merge Wisewood and Myers Grove Schools, now the party is eager to 'consult' the public over allowing St Luke's Hospice to relocate to the disused Bluestones School site.
It is well known that 'consultation' in bureaucratic circles is simply telling people what is going to happen. There is the opportunity to ask for opinions. But these will be ignored.
Frankly, it is better to get on with the St Luke's project rather than to waste time and taxpayers' money on a sham.
Unless, of course, Labour are now telling us there was a cat in hell's chance of the Wisewood campaigners' views ever being implemented.
What do you think? Add your comments below.
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