Thousands of new houses were left empty as mortgages dried up and banks withdrew lending.
The drop in population has led to houses being left empty and shops abandoned, say residents.
In the following year the town's population of about 4,000 dropped by nearly half, and as businesses and supermarkets closed, Qantas cut its services, and houses were left empty, the exodus began to take a toll on the mental health of those who stayed behind.
Robert Barton, maintenance organiser for the Northern Highlands and a member of the MBA for more than 30 years, says: "The houses were left empty, mostly after the war, when the estates didn't have so much money to employ people, and walkers just started using them". As such, bothies vary hugely in their original purpose, from Viking longhouses to simple sheep shelters.
It's the kind of town where houses are left empty when their owners die, where dresses coexist with lawn mowers in the shop windows, the kind of "dump town" any young person with an active mind and libido would want to get the hell out of.
"They [the Paris council] could re-house people in private housing – housing that is left empty – but they don't because it costs them too much," said Eyraud.
Many users of the online auction house have been left empty handed as the Royal Mail union snarl-up over job cuts and pay causes huge disruption at sorting offices across the country.
