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'Shame' on councillors over slum flats - Lines
THE man who has approved a £250,000 facelift for Birmingham's "flats of shame" has hit out at their years of neglect.
Cabinet housing chief Coun John Lines was pressed to order the demolition of vandalised and crumbling blocks of flats in Lillington Grove, Shard End.
But he insisted they were structurally sound and should not be bulldozed.
"These flats have been neglected for years. The only investment in them has been some rewiring carried out in 1993," he told the council.
Coun Lines claimed Shard End councillors had received £1.5 million to fund neighbourhood projects, but had not spent a penny on the flats.
Coun Ian Ward (Lab, Shard End) insisted the £250,000 being spent on the flats was "money wasted".
"Tenants want to be rehoused in decent properties with central heating and double glazing," he said.
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