A COUNCILLOR has claimed a month’s wait for a “critical” housing issue to be addressed is too long.

Graham Pooley, Liberal Democrat opposition housing spokesman on Chelmsford Council, was speaking at the full council meeting.

He had asked the cabinet member for housing, Duncan Lumley, if he was aware of what he described as “the unacceptably long times that are currently occurring” between the reporting of a concern to the council’s environmental health officers and a visit.

He said the target of one month for critical cases was too long.

Mr Pooley said: “This frontline service was not in a position to respond to this weather.

“Are our resources adequate?”

Mr Lumley replied most reported complaints concerned dampness and the level of service request was always higher in the winter months.

He said the service prioritised requests using a risk based assessment, allowing more urgent cases to be seen ahead of others.

Mr Lumley explained since April last year the council had visited 198 cases and in February this year there were 63 cases registered.

He said: “There are no urgent Category One cases outstanding. The list comprises of 21 critical, 35 substantial and seven low priority requests “While we endeavour to meet demand as it rises, any responsive service such as this one has, by its very nature, peaks and troughs of workload throughout the year.

“This inevitably presents a challenge to officers to manage.”

He said he believed the impact of improvements that had been put in place would be seen through the course of the coming year.