VIDEO: Wisbech resident demonstrates scale of town’s empty building problem
Constantine House. - Credit: Archant
A Wisbech resident has created a montage of empty buildings in the town, which he says could be turned into housing.
The video was first posted on community website ShapeYourPlace.
John Smithee posted the following message alongside the clip: “In Wisbech, there are many empty buildings and shops, and much undeveloped land.
“There are also hundreds of families, couples and single people on the housing waiting lists.
“There are also scores of highly skilled building workers on the dole, or working in other occupations. What is to be done?
“Fenland District Council should embark on a building programme of publicly-owned houses and flats.
“It can be done. In the 1950s and 1960s, Wisbech Urban and Rural District Councils did just that.
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“Today, this should be done on an environmentally sustainable basis, to provide quality homes with low rents.
“The money is there. £850 billion sits idle in the bank accounts of the top 200 biggest companies.
“Local councils can borrow money at very low interest rates for long periods of time.
“The loans can be paid back from money saved from not having to pay Housing Benefit to private landlords.”
