Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: New Heartlands

  1. #1
    Creator & Administrator Kev's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Under The Stairs >> Under The Mud.
    Posts
    7,488
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default New Heartlands

    Jan 1 2008 by Nick Coligan, Liverpool Echo

    AVERAGE house prices have more than doubled in some of Merseyside’s poorest areas.

    New figures show the cost of a property in streets allocated for demolition and rebuilding by regeneration body NewHeartlands have gone up by 130% since 2003.

    Increasing house prices in very deprived areas was the main aim of NewHeartlands when it started four years ago.

    Values had fallen so dramatically in some districts that large-scale abandonment of homes was seen as a real risk.

    Convincing residents in NewHeartlands’ target areas that widespread demolition and rebuilding was the solution proved extremely difficult in many cases - and impossible in some.

    But significant changes are now happening in Toxteth, Anfield, Wavertree, Kensington, Bootle, Tranmere and Rock Ferry.

    By next year, 3,000 officially unfit properties will have been bulldozed and more than 550 new homes built in their place.

    About 13,000 properties will have been repaired or refurbished by April, including almost 150 in Anfield, which were originally going to be demolished but saved on residents’ request.

    Seven compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) have also been confirmed, some after public inquiries, giving NewHeartlands the legal power to buy up hundreds of houses.

    According to the organisation’s managing director Pauline Davis, the scheme will be more or less on target by March.

    She said: “There are things I thought would happen a bit quicker, but when you are dealing with a programme on this scale, sometimes things takes a bit longer.

    “Some of that has been linked to the fact we have to give people the opportunity to have their voices heard.

    “A CPO can take a minimum of two years, by the time you go through a public inquiry and work with the community about what they want to see in the new areas.

    “Sometimes communities are frustrated that we are not going fast enough. They say that loud and clear to me and the government.”

    According to Ms Davis, actions are the key to getting residents on board. The completion of a new estate for residents of Toxteth’s Welsh Streets, where opinion was split, is given as a reason many people came around to the idea of moving.

    All but two of the 107 homes in the Clevedon Park development were occupied by former Welsh Streets residents.

    Ms Davis said: “If they were not happy with those new homes, we would have known about it and it would have been devastating.

    “What was really important for me was they moved there as a community, so they could stay with people they had known for years.

    “It is a stone’s throw from their old homes, so they still consider themselves to be in the Welsh Streets, but in dry, warm, quality properties.”

    Other success stories for NewHeartlands include the Dobson Street development and the ongoing refurbishment of homes in Tancred Road, both in Anfield.

    But not everyone is satisfied with the organisation’s track record.

    There is still vocal opposition in the Welsh Streets, Kensington, Bootle and Wavertree, where some residents opposed CPOs at public inquiries.

    City councillor Steve Radford is heading a council investigation into how effective NewHeartlands has been at tackling the city’s housing market problems.

    He is a staunch opponent, nicknaming the scheme “Housecrusher” and claiming rising property values actually price families out of areas.

    Cllr Radford said: “Demolitions reduce the supply of affordable housing and push thousands of people on to council house waiting lists.

    “The conclusion must be rising house prices. But in a low wage economy like Merseyside, this puts houses out of the reach of many local residents.

    “In the demolition areas, with an average wage of £10,000, how many people can afford the new homes at £120,000?

    “The real problems of these areas are low wages, not the housing stock. Demolishing the housing of the poor does not remove poverty.”

    We thought all was lost when it was bedsit land

    JACK Costello moved into Keble Road, Bootle, in 1940 and thought he would never leave.

    But in May, the 74-year-old grandfather and his wife Pauline, 69, made the short but significant move just around the corner, to a new house in Queens Road.

    Their five-bedroom home was in the middle of a NewHeartlands regeneration zone - and the bulldozers were ready to move in.

    Mr Costello admits many of his neighbours were opposed to the idea of demolishing and rebuilding their community at first.

    But the vast majority were won over once new homes started springing up nearby.

    Mr Costello said: “Years ago, this was quite a well-to-do area, with big three, four and five-bedroom Victorian houses.

    “But when the docks started to decline, people moved out, the private landlords moved in and it became bedsit land.

    “Immediately that meant trouble - no one looks after a house when it is split into three flats.

    “When NewHeartlands came along, a lot of us thought it was a chance to start again from scratch.

    “But there was opposition, mainly because some people felt they were not being offered enough money to move from their homes and go somewhere else.

    “Once the demolition started and people saw new houses underway, there was a better feeling. I would say 90% of people were delighted with the properties they built.”

    Mr and Mrs Costello left their five-bedroom house for a modern two-bedroom property.

    Mr Costello said: “We had raised a family there, but it was miles too big and economically it was expensive to run.

    “This is a lovely house, with a nice garden, off-street parking and all the mod cons.”

    nick.coligan@liverpool.com
    Become A Supporter 👇


    Donate Via PayPal


    Donate


  2. #2
    Roving Arriva Bus User! wallasey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Wallasey
    Age
    35
    Posts
    425

    Default

    "Officially Unfit"...thats a laugh!

    Do these look unfit???


    Thompson Street, Tranmere These were demolished during Summer 07 as part of New Heartlands Tranmere


    Canterbury Road, Rock Ferry Only a few houses remain on Canterbury Road now. One imagines that these are privately owned and require CPO's.

    Images from here

    I would direct you to the "Live Wirral" website, but all it contains is a phone number and that's it!!!!

    To be honest, I have found the new housing to be a mix of OK and ugly. Some in Rock Ferry have balconies which have 2 metal panels and one wood panel; needless to say, it looks as if someone has knocked a hole through absent metal panels, requiring wood to be used instead. The housing in the Toxteth Development also looks rather uninspiring as raw breezeblock has been used as detailing around doors and windows, not my first choice when designing attractive properties!

    I wouldn't mind knowing what the demolition of housing means??? For instance, will the destruction of Tranmere, mean that the area wont be deprived anymore???

    We have seen it all before during the 60's and 70's, with the results affecting the lives of people who now have to endure the affects of bad planning. Why do we need to cause yet more devastation?????
    Liverpool Suburbia@Flickr

    UPDATED 14JUN09 20 images added to Dovecot
    Last updated 26ARP09 (Aigburth)
    Apologies for the durge in updates!

  3. #3
    Junior Member Harry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    88

    Default

    Yes they look unfit to me.
    Unfit for purpose in the 21st century.
    Its alright heritage buffs banging on about character Victorian housing, they don't have to live in them and the often dismal urban wastelands they occupy.
    I'm certainly far from 100% happy with some of the replacements for these slums but people should stop trying to paint a false rosy picture of this housing.
    I've worked on some of the HMRI schemes and, believe me, the housing market has totally collapsed in most of these areas to the point where you couldn't give properties away for nothing. No-one wants to live there.
    The reports of increasing property values must be extremely selective and non-representative of what is really happening and has probably been caused by unscrupulous punters trying to make a quick buck on the property gravy train encouraged by the dross on daytime television.
    The HMRI areas are dead zones and a blot on our urban landscapes and the sooner the bulldozers wipe this ugly crap off the face of the earth the better for our cities.

  4. #4

    Post Mersey Heartlands?

    So where and what the heck is "Mersey Heartlands Eco-Town" then??

    http://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/pr..._ecotowns.html
    ... The CPRE has published a shortlist of possible 'eco-towns' which the Prime Minister is due to announce next month, and where 100,000 eco houses will be built.
    Thursday, 14 February 2008
    Holly Kirkwood
    Next month, Gordon Brown has announced that he will name five 'eco-towns' in England, where zero carbon developments will be built, ...
    CPRE's list of likely eco town candidates is below:
    ... NORTH WEST
    3 Mersey Heartlands (Wirral)
    4 Carrington (Greater Manchester)
    5 Nantwich (Cheshire) ...

  5. #5
    Roving Arriva Bus User! wallasey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Wallasey
    Age
    35
    Posts
    425

    Default

    Might be a-part of the new housing being built as part of the Urban Renewal scheme which is taking place in Egremont, Birkenhead and Tranmere.
    Liverpool Suburbia@Flickr

    UPDATED 14JUN09 20 images added to Dovecot
    Last updated 26ARP09 (Aigburth)
    Apologies for the durge in updates!

  6. #6
    Senior Member john's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    In the Big Village
    Posts
    303

    Default

    The Nantwich one is been stopped due to local opposition.

    " If you know your history, then you would know where you coming from".


    "I could have been a footballer - but I had a paper round"..Yosser Hughes

  7. #7

  8. #8
    Roving Arriva Bus User! wallasey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Wallasey
    Age
    35
    Posts
    425

    Default

    Wirral Waters ay!

    I think before they start making a c****-up of the docks, a workable plan for the Town Centre is needed; Birkenhead is dying a sad and lonely death and nobody seems to be doing a cats whisker about it!
    Liverpool Suburbia@Flickr

    UPDATED 14JUN09 20 images added to Dovecot
    Last updated 26ARP09 (Aigburth)
    Apologies for the durge in updates!

  9. #9
    Senior Member Waterways's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    2,924
    Blog Entries
    22

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by wallasey View Post
    Wirral Waters ay!

    I think before they start making a c****-up of the docks, a workable plan for the Town Centre is needed; Birkenhead is dying a sad and lonely death and nobody seems to be doing a cats whisker about it!
    If Wirral Waters comes to light that will be the centre of Birkenhead.
    The new Amsterdam at Liverpool?
    Save Liverpool Docks and Waterways - Click

    Deprived of its unique dockland waters Liverpool
    becomes a Venice without canals, just another city, no
    longer of special interest to anyone, least of all the
    tourist. Would we visit a modernised Venice of filled in
    canals to view its modern museum describing
    how it once was?


    Giving Liverpool a full Metro - CLICK
    Rapid-transit rail: Everton, Liverpool & Arena - CLICK

    Save Royal Iris - Sign Petition

  10. #10
    chippie
    Guest chippie's Avatar

    Default chippie,s eco town

    You are right John, the locals are up in arms about having a new town around here. The have built Nantwich up with some much new property since I,ve lived here in the last eight years and on top of that they want to build this entire new town around this lovely rural setting. The traffic has doubled on the main road as it is. We will have lost our haven and our peace and we don,t want that.

    We,ll pass on this one and let you have our town to join onto your Wirral one, have it on us.

  11. #11

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by chippie View Post
    You are right John, the locals are up in arms about having a new town around here. The have built Nantwich up with ...
    Well neither Nantwich nor Birkenhead were shortlisted. Cheers and Boos.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7327717.stm

    In fact neither anywhere in the North-East region nor North-West region were selected despite reported promises by Brown that there would be at least one from each England region.
    http://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/pr..._ecotowns.html

    However, Pennbury in Leicestershire was shortlisted and the locals there are up in arms about it and determined to prevent it happening one way or another. I don't doubt the locals have a few tactics for making the developers wish they had never heard of Pennbury.

    Eco-towns shortlist:-
    1. Bordon, Hampshire
    2. Coltishall, Norfolk
    3. Curborough, Staffordshire
    4. Elsenham, Essex
    5. Ford, West Sussex
    6. Hanley Grange, Cambridgeshire
    7. Imerys, nr St Austell, Cornwall
    8. Leeds city region, West Yorkshire
    9. Manby, Lincolnshire
    10. Marston Vale and New Marston, Bedfordshire
    11. Middle Quinton, Warwickshire
    12. Pennbury, Leicestershire
    13. Rossington, South Yorkshire
    14. Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire
    15. Weston Otmoor, Oxfordshire
    Source: Department of Communities and Local Government via BBC
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    This is the reference of where and when Brown promised to put at least one eco-town in the North-West:-
    At the Labour Party conference in October 2007, Gordon Brown, who was by then Prime Minister, told delegates ‘And for the first time in nearly half a century we will show the imagination to build new towns - eco-towns with low and zero carbon homes. And today because of the response we have received we are announcing that instead of just five new eco towns, we will now aim for ten eco towns ---- building thousands of new homes in every region of the country.’ (Emphasis supplied)
    - Welching on this promise will cost him votes. Traditional areas of strong Labour Party support, the people of the North-East and North-West will not appreciate being entirely left out.
    Last edited by HollyBlack; 04-03-2008 at 11:22 PM.

  12. #12
    Creator & Administrator Kev's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Under The Stairs >> Under The Mud.
    Posts
    7,488
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default Refurbishment at the centre of New Heartlands project

    THE chairman of Merseyside’s controversial £190m housing renewal scheme has said it is not about gentrification or wholesale demolition. Read
    Become A Supporter 👇


    Donate Via PayPal


    Donate


  13. #13
    Roving Arriva Bus User! wallasey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Wallasey
    Age
    35
    Posts
    425

    Default

    “We have refurbished six times more homes than we have demolished, it’s not wholesale demolition.”
    They have only refurbished a few streets on this side of the water...none of which are in the Tranmere area where most of the demolition is going on
    Liverpool Suburbia@Flickr

    UPDATED 14JUN09 20 images added to Dovecot
    Last updated 26ARP09 (Aigburth)
    Apologies for the durge in updates!

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •