AS LOCAL-AUTHORITY finances reach breaking point in many areas and school exclusions rise sharply, redundant public properties should be repurposed as “villages” hosting charities that can intervene, the founder of the charity Oasis, the Revd Steve Chalke, has suggested. Wirral council approached Oasis after learning about Oasis St Martin’s Village in Tulse Hill, south London. A partnership between the St Martin-in-the-Fields Foundation, the local authority, and Oasis, the Village now hosted 15 local charities working “in an integrated way”, Mr Chalke said.