Gazette published Merlene's letter on lack of affordable housing in the borough in their issue dated 22 May 2009

12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 25th May 2009

"I was pleased to see your coverage of rumours about the Council's intention to sell Queen Caroline Estate ("Don't let our estate get bulldozed by greedy developers", 14 May 2009).

Having spoken to local residents, I believe that views on the future of the estate will be divided depending on whether the residents are social tenants or leaseholders. This could be an example of "divide and rule" caused by Margaret Thatcher's original policy of selling off council housing.

What is undeniable is that there are thousands of households on the waiting list for affordable housing within the borough. The Tories claim we have more affordable housing than most boroughs offer so they say there is no need to supply more. But, of course, the real measure is do we have sufficient social housing for residents? We clearly do not have enough!

The Tories' proposals are reminiscent of Westminster's "building stable communities" which lead to Westminster's Tory leaders being found guilty of gerrymandering.

The Liberal Democrats believe it is vitally important that the Council comes clean as to their true intentions and what medium or long term plans they have. This is only fair to the residents of this estate (as well as at another at Ashcroft Square, near King's Mall) regardless of their status and tenure. "