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Alan Walter: a life dedicated to the dream of social housingIF a large-scale council housing programme starts up again in Britain it will largely be due to the efforts of one man, an extraordinary activist from Kentish Town, Alan Walter.
A man who believed to the core – wisely or not – that the efforts of the individual mattered less than those of the collective, Alan shunned any form of personal publicity.
Those who knew him – tenants, Camden councillors like Roger Robinson, MPs, even Cabinet Ministers – were amazed at his organisational skills, his energy, his all-round talent as a propagandist.
Five years ago, the government was hellbent on ending the umbilical cord between council housing and Whitehall. In some parts of the country they succeeded. But in Camden they met their match in Alan – and today council estates are still in the hands of the local authority.
Then he revved up a campaign to persuade the government to start building council houses again. When this coincided with the private property crash the government took notice. Now, there are signs that Alan may have won his fight.
He wasn’t a councillor, he wasn’t an MP, he didn’t hold any high office, but Alan, who lived his life to protect fellow council tenants – and dreamed a dream that, one day, part of the answer to private ownership of property may be social ownership – may have done more than anyone else to help make it a reality.
Save Talacre and help stop crime
PREVENTATIVE action can be taken to reduce crime.
Perhaps it won’t have as big an effect as reformers would wish.
But at least it can pull back the spiralling statistics.
This week we highlight what happens when young men, with little education, few opportunities on the horizon, badly served by a consumerist culture, take the only path they believe beckons – that of crime.
What can be done? It’s proving beyond the power of the timid politicians of today – bereft of convictions, to rein in the “get rich quick” culture spread out in TV channels, movies and computer games – to create hundreds of
thousands of real job opportunities and to provide social amenities at neighbourhood level.
Without all this, the rate of crime may be stalled temporarily, but sooner or later it will continue on its upward march.
Local politicians presumably know this. Why then is the ruling body at the Town Hall playing about with the future of the Talacre Sports Centre?
Parents knew how good it was and queued up for hours to register their children. Our advice: Don’t meddle with Talacre. It’s one of the few bright spots in the borough. |
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