THE THURROCK Council boss for housing has hit back at criticisms of her department by UKIP MEP Tim Aker.
Cllr Lynn Worrall said: "Mr Aker or Cllr Aker – I never know which one he is pretending to be – obviously hasn’t done his homework and just decided to spout off, willy-nilly, for what he hopes will be a headline in a newspaper written by lazy unthinking journalists.
"Doesn’t he know we have the five year local connection rule to get council housing in Thurrock?
"Doesn’t he understand nobody coming here from other areas or inside or beyond the EU can have a council house?
"I regularly get told by UKIP councillors that ‘outside people’ are getting council houses. My reply is always the same: send me the details and if your claims are true then I will have the house removed from them.
"To date they have never sent me one address for the housing team to follow up, which leads me to believe this is just the usual scare mongering that UKIP and Tim Aker have come to rely on as the facts let them down.
"Thurrock Council has an ambitious plan for building council homes and estate regeneration as well as the exciting Gloriana project all aimed at improving our stock of homes for local people.
"These have been approved and welcomed by all parties when I presented the reports at cabinet and then to all councillors at the recent full council meeting.
"I do not recall Mr-Cllr Aker having anything to say at either of those meetings.
In Tilbury we have now started to build new homes on the old St Chad’s school site as part of our Gloriana programme.
These homes are exclusively for Thurrock residents and will help young families get on the rental/housing ladder. Already this development has won a national award for its design.
"I don’t want to say more, I get so angry at pointless, cheap, inaccurate political mischief-making.
