Snarling fit to scare a Daily Mail hack
They all earn £40k a year, you know
You might consider the Daily Mail, the voice of the seething right wing, a little unsympathetic to the problems faced by the homeless, but at least one of its staffers has a unique insight.

A representative of a leading charity told me that one of the Mail's hacks once decided to have a go at that most hoary of journalistic cliches – the "I spent a night sleeping rough" feature.

Having gathered background material from the charity, he wandered off into the city. Later that night, the charity's phone rang – it was the journalist, reporting that he was frightened. And there was me thinking that beggars had an easy life, preying on the sympathy of the honest public …

Quit busting my balls
Image is everything in the Thames Gateway. Indeed, one Gateway development in east London has had a small name change to reduce sniggers. The Bow Locks development, so named because it is beside some locks in Bow, would henceforth like to be known as Bow Wharf.

They're calling hell Hullish now
Life isn't getting any easier for Hull council. As if streets of empty homes, controversy over the suspension of its chief executive and looming government intervention weren't enough, it has now been branded the worst place to live in the country.

The Idler magazine came to this conclusion after being inundated with entries for its planned book Crap Towns naming Hull as the nastiest town in the land.

However, punch-drunk Hull councillors can take heart from the stiff competition provided by "unrelentingly miserable" Cumbernauld and "wrist-slittingly moribund" Luton.

Politician in truth shocker
Housing minister Keith Hill broke an age-old political taboo last week – he was honest. Hill owned up to not having read a select committee report about the Thames Gateway when quizzed about the document.

"I wish I had read that report," he said.

"It predates me. I always pay a huge amount of attention to the select committee, it goes without saying."

Owen? Fowler? Grobbelaar?!
In a fine spirit of community, Liverpool Housing Trust has decided to tackle the issue of antisocial behaviour head-on.

It is to sponsor a summer football camp for 8- to 13-year-olds on its estates in an attempt to keep the children off the streets during the holidays.

The trust is also running a series of events for young people to highlight the problem of antisocial behaviour and the damage it can do to communities. All good stuff, but – footballers as role models for good behaviour? I'm not convinced.

If I could talk to the animals …

Hoping to continue last week’s animal eviction theme, I was delighted to hear about Peter Cowley, Nottingham Community Housing Association’s answer to Dr Dolittle. Cowley recently dealt with a family of seven brothers and their abandoned pets – two finches and four hamsters. All in a day’s work, it would seem, as his greatest concern seemed to be beating the efforts of a colleague who had evicted a tortoise. Now we have to up the ante. Send reports of housing officers wrestling crocodiles and pet pythons, however scurrilous, to the usual address.

Source

Housing Today