Such a bold plan, if it can be carried through, should radically improve the quality of life for a large number of disadvantaged residents, while at the same time addressing the pressing issue of the shortage of council properties.

Which is why many people, both inside and outside Ashfield district, will be watching with considerable interest the partnership agreement that the council has made with the East Shires Housing Association, an organisation that specialises in the design, build and regeneration of affordable housing projects.

Council leader Jason Zadrozny is understandably excited about the prospects. The housing-related problems across many parts of Ashfield cannot be understated, and any move to rectify this has to be welcome, especially when figures show that as many as two-thirds of people in Ashfield cannot afford a mortgage.

And that's even before the recession that is now widely believed to be upon us, with all the serious implications for family life, has started to make its effects properly felt.