Meet the last man standing on UK's loneliest housing estate
Nick Wisniewski says officials will need to "smash my door down... and basically drag me out" of the home in the vast condemned estate on the outskirts of Glasgow - which used to have almost 1,000 properties but is now a desolate, overgrown site full of boarded-up properties.
Sunday 29 December 2024 04:12, UK
A pensioner who is refusing to leave what's being branded Britain's loneliest housing estate has told Sky News he is facing bullying and intimidation tactics to force him out.
Nick Wisniewski's ex-council flat in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire is set to be demolished because the local authority wants to redevelop the area, which has become a derelict eyesore.
The vast area on the outskirts of Glasgow used to have almost 1,000 properties, but slowly the bulldozers have moved in, creating huge mounds of rubble where homes once stood.
The land is overgrown, with all remaining properties boarded up - apart from the retired bank worker's home, which demolition teams have been unable to touch as he refuses to budge.
'They'll basically need to drag me out'
The 68-year-old, whose neighbours were all rehomed in 2023, bought the flat in 2017 under the discounted right-to-buy scheme and is now mortgage-free.
He told Sky News he rejected an initial offer from North Lanarkshire Council of £35,000 plus two year's rent as it would not be enough to buy a new place.
Contemplating a time in the future when he is forced out, he said: "By law they can smash my door down, they can come in here, manhandle me to get me out. That's the law, and they'll basically need to drag me out."
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Asked if he is prepared to go to that length to stop himself being removed, he said: "I am hoping it doesn't come to that, but if it does then so be it."
He reveals a compulsory purchase order process is now under way.
A compulsory purchase order is the legal power given to a local council to buy a property without the owner's consent.
The legal battle will now be resolved by the Scottish government in due course.
He said: "It's been all intimidation, bullying, lies. They offered me £40,000 over a year ago. I thought they'd have offered me a wee bit more. I would accept, probably, £60,000.
"They had a meeting a couple of weeks ago saying that they are starting legal, which means compulsory purchase order.
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"There's so many stages to that and it'll take a while for that to come in to force."
North Lanarkshire Council told Sky News it "completely refutes" any allegations of bullying or intimidation.
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A spokesman said: "We are continuing to try and engage with the remaining resident and our focus is on progressing our ambitious plans to transform this area of Gowkthrapple for the benefit of the local community."