SADIQ KHAN SHOWS THE WAY FORWARD

 

 New council house revolution

on the way?

Welcome news  from London: the Mayor Sadiq Khan (pictured) has cleared his target of 20,000 new council housing stsrts by 2024 a year early – with 10,000 starts last year alone. 

 

  Lower-income families who have been increasingly frozen out of the capital’s housing market ar those who will benefit most. The news  also shows shows that a return to mass council homebuilding is possible if the policy environment is right.

Councils can grow their stock through acquisition as well as new build, and it was interesting to see one London borough (Lewisham) reveal the positive results of its programme top buy back council homes sold under the Right to Buy.

Obviously this represents an overall loss to the public purse: a home built by public expenditure, sold at a discount and then purchased again at full market value. But it is a quick and sensible way to grow a council’s stock of available housing, providing homes that are already situated.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation is availableon 01228 522277

 

 

CATTLE AND SHEEP WITH TABLE MANNERS

Packing

a munch

for nature

A group of munching Belted Galloway cattle (pictured)  in  Cumbria`s  Eycott Hill nature reserve- between Berrier and Mungrisdale- and the volunteer  carers who look after them is a fascinating story.

 Equally fascinating is another story  of munching animals that has just emerged in The Times newspaper.The Times munchers are sheep.

These Belted Galloways owe their existence to  what might be called their table manners- like all cattle  they graze using their tongues which means that  only the larger vegetation is eaten leaving space for smaller vegetation to develop and add  colour and variety to the nature reserve.

Sheep on the other hand graze using their teeth.The difference is  understandable because  cattle have no upper set of teeth. So the tongues are invaluable. Sheep have the full monty of two sets of teeth.

Those two sets are responsible for the  munching animals in the Times . That newspaper`s   readers have been having a field day  (more correctly, a churchyard day)  telling  of how versatile munching sheep are in churchyards because of their  two sets of teeth.

The story started  with a Times article about the benefits of  rewilding…allowing nature to set the pace  on a farm, with no help from intensive cultivation.

 Readers responded to the article with a flood of letters about  sheep and how useful  these animals are with their two sets of teeth in keeping the grass in check in churchyards 

Sheep in  a churchyard is desecration, said one reader.The dead don`t mind, said another reader. Sheep  in churchyards tread in flower seeds,said another.

One retired clergyman said that in Yorkshire some clergyman hold an auction for  the right to graze their graveyards with sheep.This   grazing of course provides an income for the church.

 
Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation is availableon 01228 522277

WORKING TOGETHER TO GET HOMES PEOPLE NEED

The Green light for council housing

Congratulations to the  Green Party- the only policical party fighting  this week`s council elections supporting a return to council house building to solve the housing crisis.

 Greens Co-leader Adrian Ramsay (here) said:“We need councillors and national government to work together to deliver the homes people need and can afford to rent and buy, where people need them.

 “Today, speculators and developers are allowed to chase the biggest profits and ignore local needs. Too many villages and towns have seen large-scale developments take place without the community infrastructure expanded alongside, such as GP surgeries, bus services, cycling and walking networks and nurseries and schools.

But change hopefully is on the way and by the time of the  general election, expected next year,  there may be more support for council housing.

The Inside Housing columnist Jules Birch this week drew attention to the change. This is what he says quoting  a government minister:

“Homes for social rent are a fundamental part of our housing stock – a lifeline for those who would struggle to obtain a home at market rates.”

“It’s a sign of how much has changed in the past six years that statements like this from Conservative politicians (in this case housing minister Rachel  Maclean  in a Commons debate last week) become almost routine.

For good measure, Ms Maclean also reaffirmed “the unshakeable commitment of the government to drive up both the quality and the quantity of this nation’s housing stock”.

“The comments are part of a steady conversion by ministers to the merits of a tenure that not so long ago they seemed intent on dismantling.

“ Since Grenfell, there has been a steady softening in tone and relaxation in policy, with Theresa May as prime minister and Michael Gove as housing secretary prominent among the converts.

“However, all the fine words and tweaks to policy are not yet matched by results.

“As MPs from both sides of the house pointed out in the debate, the current output of 7,500 social rent homes a year fails to match the 21,600 a year lost to the Right to Buy and demolition, let alone the 90,000 homes a year that the all-party Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee has consistently argued are needed.”

 Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation is availableon 01228 522277