As the council’s executive member with responsibility for the Little London and Beeston Hill & Holbeck PFI project, I would like to respond to Mr Stewart’s letter about Meynell Heights.
The PFI project will bring significant investment to the city to directly address conditions in over 1,200 council properties in these inner-city neighbourhoods, including Meynell Heights. It has been one of my top priorities for delivery.
Projects of this scale do take time to plan but the series of delays we have faced has been unprecedented. As a council we have ensured the project has survived the wider economic turmoil of recent years, negotiated with government to maintain funding and secure approvals and most recently stepped in to ensure the funding to the project is in place following the withdrawal of one of the banks.
I share Mr Stewart’s frustration that we have not been able to make a start to the much-needed improvements to people’s homes as we had originally anticipated. I can assure him and other residents that my ward member colleagues and I are doing everything we can to bring the procurement to a conclusion as soon as possible and hope that we will soon be in a position to offer some certainty about the start of the works.
Councillor Peter Gruen, Leeds City Council Executive Member for Neighbourhoods, Planning and Support Services
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