A political party in a parish in Cornwall have been discussing plans to enable more of the local Cornish population to get access to affordable housing.
The Liberal Party, not to be confused with the Liberal Democrats, held a meeting in Camborne last weekend to discuss how they might replicate the success of their party's housing schemes in other areas of the country.
Liberal Party chairman in Cornwall, Paul Holmes, alongside local members, was joined by party leader and Liverpool City Councillor, Steve Radford, as well as Peter Mitchell, Group CEO of the Big Help Group - a national charity who tackle issues such as poverty, hunger and affordable housing and will also be looking to get permission to develop 90 homes in the Soft Crofty area.
The meeting discussed how the Liberal Party could provide affordable housing for local people so as to enable them to stay in their communities, rather than have to move away to somewhere cheaper.
Liberal Party chairman in Cornwall, Peter Holmes, said: "It was an excellent meeting, we've worked out a strategy for the year and it's all quite positive.
"There's so much house building going on the local population are feeling left out a bit.
"There's a need for people to live where they want to live in Cornwall and not be forced out of their parishes.
"I do feel for those that don't want to leave their family and their relatives.
"I think it's very positive, anything to make sure that people who want to live in Carn Brea can do so and not be forced away because of the cost of housing."
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In Liverpool, where a similar scheme has been rolled out, notifications are sent out on local Facebook and community groups advising people that if they have family looking for social housing in the area to email the Liberal Party with ther local area connections and they'll pass it on to the housing operators.
Liberal Party leader, Steve Radford, said: "Housing shouldn't be a case of just building houses then see who arrives.
"How do we build and develop communities?
"In Cornwall there's a serious need for new housing, but new housing that the community can access.
"Clearly there's a cost of living crisis in the country, and clearly there is a crisis of shortage of labour, and so many people on low earnings are caught in the benefits trap.
"So this is a real opportunity for us to do what we've done in my own ward.
"In the Liberal tradition, we want to encourage affordable housing, but we also want to actually help local people stay in the locality of their family roots and history."
Peter Mitchell, Group CEO of the Big Help Group, said: "We're working closely with the Liberal Party locally to try and deliver the idea of local housing from local people.
"We're trying to address the housing issue from a different way, by using private sector funding and using it to target areas to build communities, not just houses.
"Our aim is to work with people who want to work with us and deliver what they need, not to impose what they don't need."
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