JOIN the Bury Times as we travel back 50 years to the headlines on March 22, 1969, when the future of council houses and their tenants was the talk of the town. BRAD MARSHALL takes a look back in the archives...

PROSPECTIVE householders' wait for a new council property is to be cut in a new 'streamlining' allocation scheme.

The six month waiting period for two bedroom council houses will be discontinued under the points-based system, hinged on factors such as age, children, length of residency in the town, conditions of present accommodation and period of waiting.

Corporation leaders say the scheme will streamline the current system and put it on a more equitable and efficient footing.

Accordingly, families and older residents will be given priority under the system, with over 70s being first in line for bungalows and ground floor flats.

IN other council house news, approval is being sought for a pilot scheme to help Bury's 5,000 tenants meet the cost of carrying out their own home improvements.

The scheme is part of a drive to cut council house repair costs which have soared to £90,000 a year.

On Tuesday a special meeting of the Housing Committee decided to introduce the pilot which will reimburse tenants, to the extent of 10 per cent, to the cost of any home improvement repairs they carry out ­— provided the improvements have been passed by the building inspector.

The council has already agreed to bolster the dwindling repairs fund by stepping up annual contributions to the fund from £17 to £20 in the case of houses, and £19 for flats. This will come into operation from April 1.

Overall expenditure on Bury's housing estates is increasing every year, and it is thought that increases in rents may have to be considered in the not too distant future.

THERE was glitz and glamour galore at Bury Drill Hall this weekend as the coveted title of Queen of Bury Carnival went to 22-year-old Julia Silvester, from Radcliffe.

The annual Bury Lions Club Carnival Ball was in full swing on Saturday, with more than 600 dancers and guests enjoying music and entertainment from popular radio band Bob Miller and his Millermen.

But in the frivolity 12 beauty queens faced a nail-biting wait to hear the judges decision and find out who would be this years queen. Mrs Silvester was eventually crowned the judges choice and received a cheque and prizes.