Demolishing arguments

[Waterways]

Homes reprieved as mass demolition plans frozen
Jul 20 2006
By Larry Neild, Daily Post

LIVERPOOL'S plans to bulldoze 3,000 terraced houses as part of the biggest clearance programme for 40 years, lay in tatters last night, jubilant critics claimed.

They say a decision by Local Government Secretary of State Ruth Kelly to freeze plans for a massive regeneration programme, would spell the end of the strategy.

But council officials insisted that the plans for Anfield, Breckfield, Edge Hill and Picton areas of the city, have not been shelved.

They say the minister has called for more information about the plans before deciding whether there should be a public inquiry.

In the meanwhile, the minister has issued a formal notice to the council banning them from granting any planning approvals without authorisation from the Government.

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The bulldozers should move in.

The averaged sized new home in the UK is a paltry British 76 square metres, while in Germany with a similar population density new homes are 109 square metres, nearly half as much again in size. In Australia the average sized new home is 205.7 square metres, in the Netherlands 115 square metres and in Denmark 137 square metres. Danish rooms are twice as big as the hutches now on offer in the United Kingdom. In Japan, a country once notorious for small homes, the average sized new home is now 140 square metres.

The averaged size living room in the UK is a miniscule 13 foot by 15 foot; a room which has to function as TV room, children’s play room, entertainment room and relaxation room. If the averaged sized man stands in the middle of a typical British living room and stretched out an arm he will hit either a wall or ceiling.

The housing charity, Shelter, estimate 500,000 households are officially overcrowded.

The UK has the smallest, pokiest most expensive houses in the developed
world. The old housing stock has a high carbon footprint, despite the illness such cold and damp homes bring on. The only way is to demolish and build eco homes - some are being built near Brunswick Dock.