Council accused of wasting taxpayers' cash as garages 'left to rot'

NEW FOREST District Council has been accused of squandering taxpayers’ money and blighting neighbourhoods with rental garages “left to rot”.

The Conservative administration was attacked for failing to look after properly some of around 200 units it owns in the parish of Hythe and Dibden.

Vandalism was a problem and there has recently been a fire at one of the blocks, complained Liberal Democrat Cllr Mark Clark when he raised the issue at a full meeting of NFDC on Monday night.

He said: “The current state of garage blocks right across Hythe and Dibden is exceptionally poor, with no money being spent on their upkeep.

“It leads to a bad feeling about people’s neighbourhoods, with the visual impact of them being unkempt and unsightly.

“My understanding is that this is a deliberate policy by the NFDC, which suggests they are content to keep such assets rotting in the heart of some of the communities that I represent, and produces vandalism, arson and burglary which worries householders deeply.”

A garage tenant himself, Cllr Clark claimed £56 a month rental income to pay for their upkeep had been lost to the council, with some of the units sitting without a paying tenant for nearly eight years.

In response, Cllr Jill Cleary, NFDC’s cabinet member for housing services, said there was currently a review underway to maximise occupation of council garages and homes around the New Forest.

She reported occupation of the 203 garages in Hythe and Dibden was running at 74% and that only 15% of tenants were behind with their payments to a total of just over £1,000.

She told Cllr Clark: “Yes, we will bring it forward and I will take it upon myself to find out what is happening.”