RESIDENTS on a Silsden housing estate are to form their own tenants' association in a bid to get cash to renovate their "neglected" homes.

Those living in the town's Windsor Avenue and Gloucester Avenue warned housing chiefs that the estate would resemble "a slum" unless money was poured in to tackle mounting repairs.

A residents' meeting last week heard how some had been waiting five years for repairs to be made to leaking roofs and had likened the area to the famous Alcatraz prison.

Now residents have agreed to set up the first tenants' association in South Craven which will have a say on how housing money should be spent.

Residents are incensed that cash has been ploughed into other estates in Keighley, claiming they see virtually nothing of the thousands of pounds Bradford Council collects from them in rent.

They came out in force last week to demand action and to protest to housing chiefs and councillors.

"Why is it that everybody else is getting money but not us?" asked one angry tenant. "It's like a slum up here."

"This estate is badly neglected and badly represented by the people on Bradford Council," said another.

Some felt that there was a hidden agenda to run down the estate and eventually demolish the houses, which were originally built by the Ministry of Defence.

Housing manager David Gill explained that the majority of the cash to renovate homes in other parts of Keighley had been obtained through successful bids for Government money.

"If we take out the money that we've won and then look at what's left of our own resources you will find that repairs expenditure averages out the same," he added.

However, Mr Gill did promise some action on the leaking roofs.

Tenants were told that they could have a say on how housing money was spent if they formed their own association.

Silsden Parish Councillor Benita Smith said: "All this frustration is going to be channelled into a positive bid for money."

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