I WAS surprised to read the letter from G Way, ‘We need more Council homes’ (Daily Echo, May 14).

As an administration we realised that this was the case in Bournemouth when we took control in 2007. We immediately set to work to deliver more council housing and have embarked on a programme to provide one of the largest house building programmes seen for a number of years in Bournemouth. As an example, the proposed development at Duck Lane will be the biggest single development carried out by Bournemouth council in the last 20 years.

Building affordable homes is at the top of our agenda and people with a local connection will be treated as a priority. We are one of only a very few unitary councils in the south carrying out a house building programme on this scale. In addition, we are buying houses in the private sector where they require improvement to bring them up to the required standard, for conversion into council homes.

As a result of the buyout from the government, the rent from council houses now stays within Bournemouth, enabling the council to build more homes from the surplus to add to the 5,150 council homes already occupied. Under the previous system, all rents were given to central government who decided how much was returned to the council for repairs and building and so the housing stock is now in a much better position as a result of the changes. This administration has an ambitious affordable homes programme for the residents of Bournemouth of which we can all be proud.

CLLR ROBERT LAWTON, cabinet member for housing, Bournemouth council