Water wastage a priority says councillor

PEOPLE on benefits who spend more than 10 per cent of their income on heating their Huntingdonshire homes will benefit from an extra £328,000 Government cash to bring their homes up to decent standard. But the money would have been better spent on reduc

PEOPLE on benefits who spend more than 10 per cent of their income on heating their Huntingdonshire homes will benefit from an extra £328,000 Government cash to bring their homes up to "decent" standard.

But the money would have been better spent on reducing the wastage of water, Councillor Nick Guyatt, executive councillor for environment, told the district council's cabinet.

With only 17 per cent of vulnerable people's private sector homes in the district classified as "non-decent" - way ahead of the Government's 2010 target - HDC was locked into spending money earmarked for the wrong problem.

"While CO2 and global warming are crucial, a more immediate problem is the water shortage," he complained.

Lower income people generally paid more for their water than more affluent folk, he said, promising to use his influence with the Environment Agency and Government Office for the East of England to address the issue.

DIY stores were full of insulting materials, for which grants were available, but there was not a double-flush cistern in sight, he snorted.

Cllr Terry Rogers, HDC's finance guru, said affordable housing and homelessness were far more pressing problems for Huntingdonshire than fuel poverty, "but we have to spend it on this because otherwise we won't get it next year".