Neighbours? Who needs 'em ...

THE isolated block of flats looks like a scene from bomb-battered Belgrade.

But for Sheena Sweeney this half-demolished building is home sweet home.

Sheena, 47, and husband Robert, an engineer, are the only remaining occupants of the building and far from moving out, they are redecorating their ground floor, two-bedroom flat.

The couple have been defying town planners with their siege mentality for the past FOUR years. They've endured the loneliness, eerie silence and vandalism in the empty block. But, quite simply, they like where they live and don't want to move.

The building, dubbed the "house on the hill" by passers-by, is so conspicuous that it can be seen from aeroplanes preparing to land at Glasgow. It has become a well-known landmark in Glasgow's Easterhouse.

All around it is open land, where other similar tenements once stood. They have been knocked down to make way for a new development. That means the Sweeneys, of Stepford Road, actually have their own street because no one else needs it for access.

Sheena, who admits the empty building is "creepy", and her husband are locked in a bitter battle with Glasgow City Council chiefs. They are facing legal action to get them out so that a private housing development can start.

But so far 13 offers to rehouse the Sweeneys and buy the flat have been rejected.

Sheena and Robert, who have four grown-up children, bought their flat from the council for just pounds 5,500 in 1988.

Although it sits in one of Europe's most depressed areas, they say the city council will have to significantly better their latest offer of pounds 19,000 if they want the couple to move out.

Sheena, who has health problems, said: "We have told the council that we will consider moving to a council house in a nice area. But they are not prepared to offer me anywhere which is acceptable, and I believe the pounds 19,000 they are offering is way below what they should be paying.

"The last tenant moved out last year and then the council demolished half the block, but as far as I'm concerned they can demolish everything apart from my home and leave me with a bungalow.

"We like it here and there cannot be many places in Glasgow with such a scenic view."

The Sweeneys have lived in the flat for 14 years. They took advantage of the Government policy of allowing council house sales in the 1980s.

Sheena said: "We are not planning on going anywhere. We are re- decorating and the place will look good when it is finished."

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said yesterday that the council had made 13 offers of an upgraded property to rent at various locations in Glasgow, as well as offering the market value for their flat. "They refused all our offers point blank," she said. "Other tenants and owner- occupiers in the block took our offers years ago. The whole area is being developed for a 150-property private housing scheme.

"The Sweeneys are holding up plans that would provide houses at affordable prices for many families. Pulling down the previous flats and houses was really for the good of the whole area."

She said the council had now run out of patience with the couple and legal steps were being taken to obtain a compulsory purchase order. The couple can appeal to Scotland's Secretary of State if the order is issued.

The council spokeswoman said: "If an appeal is refused and a compulsory purchase order is served, there is no duty on us to rehouse the Sweeneys. But we would have an obligation to rehouse them."

"We really don't want things to go that far, but we cannot wait forever."

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