Affordable housing for young people is the top priority for Winchester City Council leader, Sheila Campbell.

During Local Democracy Week, and six months into her job as leader, she spoke about problems and what she hopes to achieve.

"There is a big waiting list for housing association accommodation," she said. "I want to try to make Winchester and its district an attractive place to live for younger people and families."

The problem was the cost of housing in the area, Mrs Campbell said. House prices were often comparable to those in London.

"We have a large number of people looking to get into the housing market and they cannot come to Winchester because of the cost of housing," she said.

"These are people who would not normally put themselves forward for social housing-key workers, anybody starting out on a career and not earning in excess of £30,000."

The council needed to explore how it could help people fund their houses, said Mrs Campbell.

She was catapulted into the leader's post when Rodney Sabine lost his seat at the spring elections.

"I did not expect this job," she confessed. "Though there is a lot to learn, I was already aware of much of it because I was deputy leader.

"In addition to housing I want us to address people's concerns about crime. There is a perception, from reading national statistics, that there is a lot of crime but, in Winchester city and district, crime figures are low. We need to get across to people that this is a safe place to live.

"Also, we have to work with young people, through partnerships with schools, youth movements, parish council initiatives. We are trying to engage middle-teenagers in places such as Meadowside at Whiteley and Swanmore Secondary School. We want community involvement in recreation.

"A lot of the crime in which young people are involved is due to alcohol abuse, under-age drinking, a rush of high spirits and not enough organised things for young people to do.

"We need to tackle the "hanging about" culture.

"In Winchester and district we don't have many people feeding a serious drug habit."

Mrs Campbell acknowledged a growing concern over infilling -putting houses in city sites and therefore increasing density.

"We now have a problem of what appears to be over-dense developments. When they are built, people may be pleasantly surprised. There are a lot of people who don't want large gardens-and a lot of people like to live in the city because it's convenient. But the policy has to be treated with some sensitivity. The guidelines are flexible.

"I think that I personally will like the Minstrels development when it's built-and I think what is going up at 21a, Southgate Street, will scarcely be noticeable when it's built."