IT seems a bit odd for Wycombe District Council to propose shipping off its council tenants to Yorkshire to solve its housing problems. Will they really want to go all that way?
But desperate times demand desperate measures. The council has 1,000 families on its housing waiting list, a further 1,000 tenants who want to move within the system and 150 homeless families in bed and breakfast hostels costing the council £600,000 plus each year.
Meanwhile, Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire has houses going begging and would welcome an influx of southerners.
Peter Cartwright, chairman of Wycombe's housing and economic development committee, thinks people would like the attractions of Yorkshire life. It's cheaper and less congested. It's in 'Last of the Summer Wine' territory. The nearby hills are a bit like the Chilterns. There is also the fact that Huddersfield which is part of Kirklees, has a First Division football team - though whether that would cut any ice with euphoric Blues' supporters is unlikely.
He thinks a move could be quite an adventure, adding rightly that lots of people who own their own homes choose to move when they retire but it's less easy for council tenants.
It's not forced repatriation; it's just an innovative idea to help tackle the housing shortage in this part of the world without having to build more homes.
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