AN estate has been “lost” to drug addicts, a councillor has claimed.
Clr Dave Sheard said yesterday that young tenants had ruined an estate in his Heckmondwike ward.
The area of social housing includes Wharton Terrace, Strawberry Square and Tower Buildings.
Clr Sheard said: “I spoke to a young couple with a baby. They have to avoid the needles on the ground when they leave their flat.
“As recently as 10 years ago people were trying to get homes there. Now we have people throwing rubbish from their balconies into St James’ churchyard because they can’t be bothered putting it in the bin.
“I wouldn’t live there.”Clr Sheard said he thought the estate is suffering because young tenants are being given accommodation which has traditionally gone to older people.
The Labour man said: “I can see the same thing happening in other areas where younger people are being put in older people’s accommodation.
“Yes, we have to look after people with problems, but we also have a duty to the people we’re putting them next to.”
Clr Sheard does not believe the estate can be turned around.
He said: “I don’t think we can ever make that area decent again. We’ve lost it.”
Clr Sheard was speaking at a Kirklees council scrutiny meeting looking at which areas of social housing should have age restrictions.
Kim Fox, the council’s relationship and performance manager for strategic housing, explained that it wasn’t clear which accommodation was intended for which age group.
She said: “It’s all over the place, it doesn’t look logical at all. We need a Kirklees-wide policy so we don’t have a mess.
“There has to be a justifiable reason why accommodation is for over-40s or over-50s.”
Ms Fox added: “The thing that comes across to me is that it’s not about age, it’s about how we best manage the tenants we have.
“How do we best prevent anti-social behaviour and promote positive tenant behaviour?”
Ms Fox said that a new policy on age restrictions would take time.
She said: “I think it could take a year to get this sorted out.
“I don’t want to have a knee-jerk reaction which makes a bad situation worse.
I can’t snap my fingers and make something happen.”
