Archive for the ‘Community’ Category
Jim Ferguson’s concern over housing in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
“Liberal Democrats have announced they will add VAT to new build houses. Home building industry body Homes for Scotland, whose membership provides 95% of all homes built for sale in Scotland as well as an increasingly significant proportion of affordable housing, today unsurprisingly slammed Liberal Democrat proposals to add VAT to new build homes if elected to Government and so do I.
We are in desperate need of social and “truly affordable” housing for rental with 10,000 people on the Highland Council Housing Waiting List.
Those on local average earnings have little chance of accessing mortgages since the Banking crisis.
Most work locally and need housing in the areas where they work. Spiralling petrol and diesel costs make it even more difficult for those on lower incomes who live in rural areas, hence my concern on this issue.
Members of the public have made clear their dismay over Labour Government’s failure to control immigration.
Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrat comments, recently broadcast, have incensed the electorate when stating Inverness and other areas need more migrants! Gordon Brown’s Labour “open borders” policy has been a complete failure. Massive increases in migration have resulted in overstretched Public Services. The increased cost of the Benefits System underpinning the policy could have major economic consequences.
If migrants are to be welcomed, we must ensure crucial infrastructure is in place, including jobs, education, health and housing and naturally the ability to cope with the diversity of languages involved which is particularly difficult in rural areas.
We need to develop Tourism further as it is a principal Highlands industry and vital for local economy creating crucial meaningful jobs and provide the necessary homes for these people.
We need a common sense approach to address Highlands problems.
Jim Ferguson
****************************
Press Release 21st April 2010
Lib Dem proposal increasing cost of new homes sheer madness
Home building industry body Homes for Scotland, whose membership provides 95% of all homes built for sale in Scotland as well as an increasingly significant proportion of affordable housing, today slammed Liberal Democrat proposals to add VAT to new build homes if elected to Government.
On the day that Tavish Scott launched the party’s manifesto in Scotland, the organisation’s Chief Executive Jonathan Fair said:
“Somehow, the Liberal Democrats seem to be unaware that Scotland, not to mention the UK as a whole, is facing its worst housing crisis since the Second World War. Not only has our industry lost up to half its workforce, development is touching an all-time low and vital First Time Buyers are struggling to find deposits of up to 25%. Any measure increasing the cost of new homes, whether in the public or private sector, is sheer madness and will simply exacerbate the problems we as a country already face.”
Ends
Enquiries to:
Jennifer Kennedy, Homes for Scotland – 0131 455 8350
Notes to Editors:
Homes for Scotland (www.homesforscotland.com) represents the country’s home building industry which, prior to the onset of the credit crunch,:
- was the largest source of private investment in Scotland and the largest user of the planning system
- built 20,000 new homes, contributed £6bn to the economy and directly impacted the employment of 100,000 people (2007 figures)
Half the industry’s directly employed jobs have already been lost and Scottish new build housing output has plummeted, presenting far-reaching and long-term social and economic consequences.
Click here to read Homes for Scotland’s “building for their future” appeal to MPs as they prepare to enter the election season.
Tweet this!
Support for Nairn Swimming Pool
Support for Nairn Swimming Pool
I was saddened to hear that Highland Council were contemplating closure of Nairn Swimming Pool due to budget cuts.
It is a well run pool with a long history of serving the people of Nairn and I was saddened to see this news in the press.
Nairn swimming pool is a well loved, popular, social venue and brings great enjoyment to not only the people of the town, but the surrounding area too.I learned to swim in Nairn Swimming pool and so did my children and I would be bitterly disappointed if it closed.
The area has popular beaches which are used during the summer by local children and it is a vital service to ensure youngsters learn to swim in a safe environment before swimming in the sea.
Unfortunately it is front line services which are going to suffer in the proposed cutbacks. There are many other areas where the budget could be addressed.
Our Swimming Pools and Community centres are a priority for all age groups and even more so for youth workers who run diversionary activities for youngsters keeping them off street corners and encouraging them to take up sport. The pool is also used by the elderly and to travel to Inverness would be difficult if not impossible.
You can be certain that I am willing do all I can in the campaign to help keep keep this important facility for Nairn open.
Jim Ferguson
Tweet this!
Conservative Party – An invitation to older people
David Cameron has launched the Older People Manifesto - an important addition to the Big Society agenda.
The Manifesto unveils policies designed to appeal to the older community in Britain, placing them at the centre of the political narrative and continuing David Cameron’s pledge to champion the great ignored.
“I want to bring older generations right into the mainstream of our national life”, Cameron said in a speech today. “Yes, to treat them with respect and kindness, and to give them the dignity and security they deserve - but also to call on their wisdom and values”.
Click here to download the Older People Manifesto
The Manifesto highlights:
1. Work and equality.
Work to stop discrimination against older people and introduce better support for older workers who lose their jobs, by:
- Looking at how to end the retirement age to promote fairness in the workplace.
- Scrapping the effective obligation to buy an annuity by age 75, to give people greater control over their finances.
- Providing specialist back-to-work support for the over 50s.
2. Greater financial security.
Protect pensioners’ benefits and create new forms of help to promote more independence and security, by:
- Protecting key benefits: the Winter Fuel Allowance, free bus passes, free TV licences and the pension credit. And unlike Labour, we will not scrap Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance for the over 65s.
- Providing a better basic state pension by linking it to earnings in 2012.
- Freezing council tax for two years in partnership with local councils, saving a typical Band D pensioner household over £200 a year.
- Giving more help to lower fuel bills through a ‘green deal’, helping to tackle fuel poverty.
3. Health and independence.
Health and social care that is fairer and more flexible, reducing the increasing isolation and vulnerability of elderly people, by:
- Health and social care that is fairer and more flexible, reducing the increasing isolation and vulnerability of elderly people, by:
- Protecting NHS spending so it has the resources it needs to meet people’s rising expectations about the quality of care they should receive.
- Providing single budgets, combining social and health funding, to give older people direct control over the care they receive.
- Scrapping Labour’s jobs tax, and using the £200 million a year this will save the NHS to create a Cancer Drugs Fund – making sure that everyone has access to the cancer drugs their doctors think will help them.
- Devolving public health budgets, so communities can spend money to prevent older people getting ill in the first place.
- Making sure that no-one is forced to sell their own home to pay their care home fees.
- Delivering better palliative care to people at the end of their lives.
4. Family and community.
Greater recognition of the important role that older people and grandparents play in their communities, and more opportunities for older people to take a more active part in building a stronger, more family-friendly society, by:
- Greater recognition of the important role that older people and grandparents play in their communities, and more opportunities for older people to take a more active part in building a stronger, more family-friendly society, by:
- Getting older people involved in new programmes of civic action and volunteering, at the vanguard of a new army of activists who will help build the Big Society.
- Creating new powers for local communities to save community assets, like post offices, that are of great value to older people.
- Giving greater rights to grandparents after parental break-up or in cases where a child needs to be taken into care.
Tweet this!
