MEMBERS of Pendle Council unanimously agreed that an urgent request to visit Pendle should be sent to the Housing Minister in a bid to tackle the area's deteriorating private sector housing.

Councillors from all parties took part in a debate about the housing problems facing the borough and discussed ways of gaining multi-million pound improvements for the area's private housing.

This was the first 'State of the Borough' debate which marks a new approach to how the Council will be addressing key issues in Pendle.

Council leader Councillor Azhar Ali said: "Pendle, like many East Lancashire boroughs, has inherited the legacy of deteriorating Victorian terraced housing areas, much of which is in desperate need of improvement and renewal. We will be urgently demanding that the Housing Minister comes to see first hand the housing conditions in Pendle and East Lancashire."

The council has also called for a new lower band of council tax for properties valued under £20,000 and believes the Minister should recognise the need to have a number of schemes running simultaneously with major investment.

Further sections of the resolution included requesting all East Lancashire MPs to monitor the government initiatives on housing and all the North West MEPs to seek European intervention to provide additional funding for East Lancashire. Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has already written to Housing Minister Lord Falconer, asking for more help to tackle the housing problems.

Mr Prentice said: "Here in East Lancashire we have some of the oldest housing in Britain and much of it is in dire straits. I have told Ministers that we can't deal with the legacy of neglect on our own."

He is also pressing the government for a revaluation of council tax banding.

The MP said: "In Pendle the vast majority of properties are either band A or band B and the case for a lower starting point is compelling given the number of modestly valued properties in this area." Pendle Council's chief executive Stephen Barnes said: "This new resolution highlights the urgent need for major investment in private sector housing in the Borough which will benefit local home-owners."