Star city
fails as new housing surges
The city of Carlisle which once led the country in building council houses is now falling very much behind as councils elsewhere surge ahead in building these homes.
Hopefully, things are not as bad as they seem and new ways of getting council house building going again in the city are being planned by Labour members of the Tory-controlled council.
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| COUN. LISA BROWN...spurred on |
Leading the way is Denton Holme and Morton South councillor Ruth Alcroft who is also prospective Labour parliamentary candidate for the city. She is working with her Denton Holme councillor colleague, Lisa Brown.
The two are spurred on by the increased number of people homeless in the city and by the continued failures and gross inefficiencies of the city`s biggest landlord, Riverside Housing Association which took over the city`s 6,000 council houses 17 years ago.
Recently Riverside closed its Carlisle offices and was accused of abandoning the city. Not so many years ago, such a situation would have been unthinkable… Carlisle between the wars led the country in the number of council houses built, proportionate to the population.
Ruth recently tried to get a motion passed by the council calling on the council to start building again.
She told the council: “Our country desperately needs new council houses to be built in great numbers. Our country needs council houses to be built to better standards so our housing stock will better stand the test of time”
The council rejected the motion after Councillor Liz Mallinson, a senior Tory councillor said she remembered the days of council housing under a Labour government.”The housing stock was sitting empty and in a state of disrepair.”
Despite such negative and backward-looking views, Ruth is undeterred in her determination and plans further efforts jointly with Lisa.
| ESTHER MCVEY.. crack team. |
