Second-home Owners Have Taken Over Our Village

Upper Swaledale - TV, Newspaper, Magazine and Internet reports

Second-home Owners Have Taken Over Our Village

Postby admin » Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:36 pm

The lost villages of Britain: Can our rural communities survive in the 21st century?

The Independant reports -

Cath Calvert works for Rural Action Yorkshire (formerly the Yorkshire Rural Community Council) and has lived in Swaledale since she was 19 years old, while her husband's local roots go back several generations. Even in the 30 years she has been here, Calvert says she has seen a lot of changes in the area. Today in Gunnerside, 40 of the 60 properties in the village are second homes. While Calvert says that "there is also a high population of people who take early retirement in Gunnerside, who are a real asset to the community, involving themselves in local events and supporting local facilities," she explains that there are a number of properties in the area which stand empty for many weeks of the year. "We don't see much of the people who own these even in the short time that they are here," she says. "They don't benefit the community; in fact, they are a detriment as they push the prices of houses up.


Full report (2nd item down) at http://tinyurl.com/ktceso
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