Not over my live body

'Concerned' (name and address supplied but not to Jock public) writes movingly to the Berwickshire:

,- As a resident of Eyemouth’s most recent housing estate at Acredale, I wish to lodge my concerns at the recent allocation of rented accommodation adjacent to our development.
Whilst purchasing my house I was assured that affordable housing was being built nearby as an alternative to the private development.
You could imagine my shock and horror to the news that Berwickshire Housing has allocated the majority of the houses to single parent families, drug users, and unemployed.
Quite simply I fail to see how most of these families would be in a position to purchase their house in the long term future or indeed would want to do so anyway.
I would have thought Berwickshire Housing would have wanted to place more emphasis on creating a more family orientated environment to complement the existing similar development but it seems all they are interested in is collecting the rent money from the government.
I suppose though it limits their chances of tenant arrears.
With property prices in Eyemouth rising higher than anywhere else in the country I wonder how the next generation are going to make the step onto the property ladder.
This affordable housing was a way for many to make the big step but it seems the local authorities do not wish to help.
Perhaps Berwickshire Housing can advise how many working two parent families were actually allocated houses in the new development.
In addition I wager that most of their new tenants will be receiving some form of government benefits.
As for our own estate how many vacant properties will be sold once people are aware of the true facts of the affordable housing.
If I was Wimpey I would put on hold their plans for another 100 houses.
The message in Eyemouth is plain to see if you want your own home, work hard and hope you are fortunate to afford a £150,000 mortgage or the alternative is to become unemployed, get an addiction, have more kids and get the new house that many dream of.

I suspect that this is not just representative of an Eyemouth-centric prejudice but of a wider sentiment in the Berwickshire community. At a meeting of the H&P community council to discuss local low cost housing needs-if any as someone put it- we were treated to a tirade from the floor about the likely recipients of cheap properties-never local-but Glasca based disreputable, unemployable, gay and lesbian, alchoholic, drugcrazed,
disabled(by implication through self harm)forrin, ethnic ( ie dark forrin) over breeding families. We could never walk the streets in safety again nor live without constant fear of assault in the homes we could only dream of.

Single parents were not included by the gentleman in question as it happened but no doubt he would have listed them in his Pantheon of undesirables had he not lingered too long at The Cross preparing his After Lager address.

So where should such unfortunate people live? Have we not a responsibilty to our less well off fellow citizens?

'Fellow Citizens?' Snort. 'Send them back to Romania or Portugal (if the management of the fish farming plant can spare them)' Or the Gorbals-much happier in a city environment if you ask me.' Second snort more liquid than the first.

Miss Mary Mack-take a letter to the Berwickshire

Labels: Low Cost Housing, Merse

  ¶ 11:23 AM