 House repairs weren't being carried out efficiently, the local youth centre was rarely open and the estate office had closed – leaving many people without cars to travel a long distance to pay their rent.There was also anger that the European Union had spent millions of pounds during the 1990s on upgrading the neighbouring Wren's Nest Estate (which traditionally had an even worse reputation than the Priory), while the Priory Estate remained relatively short on investment.However, Simon Darby was not popular with voters once they had elected him.