Edge Lane Development

[theninesisters]

I had a good nose around Edge Lane yesterday as I needed information for my Liverpool Stop the Rot website at

www.cobblers.moonfruit.com

Going past the houses in a car, you just think they're a load of old rot, but when you get up to them and see

the intricate brickwork, and going around the side and rear of the properties, they are massive.

I know there are two sides to the coin regarding

this but I fully back Elizabeth Pascoe for her work. At the end of the day, her house was at risk of CPO and I'm sure if it was your own house, you'd do

what you could to save it. Fully agree that the area has gone downhill - but as usual, the council come along and just try and sweep it all under the carpet.

Imagine the scene of coming off the M62 and seeing all those Victorian houses done up and looking how they used to look - rather than being greated by a load

of prefab flats that'll fall down in 20 years anyway.

[AK1]

I had a good nose around

Edge Lane yesterday as I needed information for my Liverpool Stop the Rot website at www.cobblers.moonfruit.com

Going past the houses in a

car, you just think they're a load of old rot, but when you get up to them and see the intricate brickwork, and going around the side and rear of the

properties, they are massive.

I know there are two sides to the coin regarding this but I fully back Elizabeth Pascoe for her work. At the end of the

day, her house was at risk of CPO and I'm sure if it was your own house, you'd do what you could to save it. Fully agree that the area has gone downhill -

but as usual, the council come along and just try and sweep it all under the carpet. Imagine the scene of coming off the M62 and seeing all those Victorian

houses done up and looking how they used to look - rather than being greated by a load of prefab flats that'll fall down in 20 years

anyway.

I fully agree that it would be great if this could be done, but it can't. The road has to be widened and made safer for the public,

and alot of these houses are beyond repair. Even the ones that could be repaired would cost unbelievable amounts to refurbish. No-one wants to live in these

houses, and if this project doesn't go ahead, they will get even more undesirable as the road becomes gridlocked over the next couple of years. We have to

move on!
( The new flats and houses that will be built aren't pre-fabricated and will actually be made from some of the best building materials around.

This project is of the highest quality!)

[Howie]

Lawyers called in as Edge Lane scheme halted
Oct 31 2006
By Sam

Lister



OFFICIALS in charge

of building the city's motorway link road were last night consulting lawyers after the £350m scheme was brought to a halt.

Protesters served an

injunction just hours before demolition work on hundreds of homes was set to begin, paving the way for the Edge Lane widening project .

And yesterday

they continued to keep the pressure up by campaigning outside a city council presentation about demolition schemes.

Liberal Party leader Steve

Radford, who is opposing the scheme, delivered the injunction to Liverpool council leader Warren Bradley's home on Sunday night and yesterday morning served

it on council chief executive Colin

Hilton.

Story continues...

[Harry]

These buildings are ugly, red-brick

sh*te.
Knock them down.
Edge Lane isn't the Champs Elysee or Park Lane, its a main route into Liverpool city centre and its too narrow.
Cars

aren't going away soon so we have to make the best of what we have for the times in which we live.
This is not the 1800's or the year 3000.

[Howie]

Campaign victory in fight to save homes
Nov 24 2006
Liverpool Echo



CAMPAIGNERS today won a major victory in the battle to save hundreds of homes in Liverpool's Edge Lane.

A judge officially quashed a legal order forcing dozens of residents to sell their houses so they could be bulldozed.

His decision followed weeks of uncertainty and marks a stunning success for grandmother Elizabeth Pascoe, 60, who led the campaign.

After spending huge amounts of taxpayers' money to get this far, government officials insist they will not give up.

Story continues...

[Howie]

New CPO bid for Edge Lane
Nov 25 2006
By Larry Neild

The agency behind the widening of the key central route into Liverpool, the Edge Lane corridor, is to seek a new compulsory purchase order for the scheme.

It follows a successful high court challenge by local resident Elizabeth Pascoe who argued to judges that her home should not be demolished for the road widening scheme.

English Partnerships last night announced that it is to seek a new CPO for Edge Lane West, the stretch at the centre of the legal wrangle.

The process will take time, delaying by up to 16 months what has been considered a critical road scheme for access to the city from the end of the M62 at the Rocket interchange.

Eliot Lewis-Ward, English Partnership’s area director said last night: “The judge made it clear that English Partnerships' approach to the use of its powers was sound and entirely appropriate for area-wide regeneration schemes such as at Edge Lane West.

Story continues...

[AK1]

New CPO bid for Edge Lane
Nov 25 2006
By Larry Neild

The agency behind the widening of the key central route into Liverpool, the Edge Lane corridor, is to seek a new compulsory purchase order for the scheme.

It follows a successful high court challenge by local resident Elizabeth Pascoe who argued to judges that her home should not be demolished for the road widening scheme.

English Partnerships last night announced that it is to seek a new CPO for Edge Lane West, the stretch at the centre of the legal wrangle.

The process will take time, delaying by up to 16 months what has been considered a critical road scheme for access to the city from the end of the M62 at the Rocket interchange.

Eliot Lewis-Ward, English Partnership’s area director said last night: “The judge made it clear that English Partnerships' approach to the use of its powers was sound and entirely appropriate for area-wide regeneration schemes such as at Edge Lane West.

Story continues...

I hope for everyones sake it doesn't take that long!

[theninesisters]

Personally, I'm all for what Elizabeth is doing. At her age, and with a house that is fairly large, would you want to be turfed out of your property at 60 and be forced to move elsewhere? I know I wouldn't.

And on the flip side, I know that something has to be done about the traffic too and the regeneration of the area - but at the cost of these massive houses?

I got a taxi a few days ago from town and was chatting to the cabbie who told me that the council had ballsed up again with Edge Lane - and its true. Go from the Rocket up Edge Lane and at the start of all the work, we were led to believe that Edge Lane would be a 3 lane carriageway both sides, so what has been done so far? Well the council have dug up all the perfectly good kerbs...and erm...replaced them with new kerbs! 'oh but come on, it looks far prettier now doesn't it'?

So what is my solition if I was in charge of the council? Two things called the Waterloo and Wapping Tunnels. Make them a one way paid system in which traffic can enter the edge of town with no tailbacks, no bottle necks, just a free moving tunnel system that would ease lots of the congestion from Edge Lane.

Edge Lane is poorly planned simply from the number of traffic lights and pedestrian traffic lights. One of the largest bottlenecks is off the Motorway, under the flyover and then everyone stops because there's a bus stop on one side just next to a set of lights for people to cross...well let's build a bridge and do away with those lights? Na...let's demolish the bridge rather than police it as a few people have chucked things off there.

The council really couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and if they think that a few new kerbs is going to solve Edge Lane because it looks pretty then I for one am peed off at my tax being spent on sh*te like that.



I feel better now

[AK1]

Personally, I'm all for what Elizabeth is doing. At her age, and with a house that is fairly large, would you want to be turfed out of your property at 60 and be forced to move elsewhere? I know I wouldn't.

And on the flip side, I know that something has to be done about the traffic too and the regeneration of the area - but at the cost of these massive houses?

I got a taxi a few days ago from town and was chatting to the cabbie who told me that the council had ballsed up again with Edge Lane - and its true. Go from the Rocket up Edge Lane and at the start of all the work, we were led to believe that Edge Lane would be a 3 lane carriageway both sides, so what has been done so far? Well the council have dug up all the perfectly good kerbs...and erm...replaced them with new kerbs! 'oh but come on, it looks far prettier now doesn't it'?

So what is my solition if I was in charge of the council? Two things called the Waterloo and Wapping Tunnels. Make them a one way paid system in which traffic can enter the edge of town with no tailbacks, no bottle necks, just a free moving tunnel system that would ease lots of the congestion from Edge Lane.

Edge Lane is poorly planned simply from the number of traffic lights and pedestrian traffic lights. One of the largest bottlenecks is off the Motorway, under the flyover and then everyone stops because there's a bus stop on one side just next to a set of lights for people to cross...well let's build a bridge and do away with those lights? Na...let's demolish the bridge rather than police it as a few people have chucked things off there.

The council really couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and if they think that a few new kerbs is going to solve Edge Lane because it looks pretty then I for one am peed off at my tax being spent on sh*te like that.



I feel better now

It was never said that it would be a 3 lane carriageway. It has always been planned as a dual carriageway from the rocket to town. If I was in her shoes, I wouldn't want to move, but I would be able to see the bigger picture which is that the area needs to be made safer for cars and pedestrians and the area needs more local amenities. This project will deliver this plus nearly 2000 jobs in an area of high unemployment. She is being selfish and only thinking about what she wants. She has to move on and let the area regenerate or it will remain in this state for many more years. I am sad to see these houses go, but I and many others believe it is the best and only way forward.Also, why shouldn't it look nice. There are too many grimey looking roads and areas in Liverpool and I think it's about time we started taking pride in our city. It will improve peoples' lives and improve our image to visitors. I want to live in a nice looking city, and I think its good that the focus is also on areas outside the City Centre. ( The council are working on plans to modernise the rocket junction, and improve safety and traffic flow. It will be a huge project, therefore it probably won't happen until after the 2008 celebrations. There is a chance that the flyover could be replaced or even removed.)

[Howie]

If homeowners were being offered enough to buy another property elsewhere, maybe you would have a point, but they are not. Why after years of paying a mortgage should Liz allow her home to be taken off her for no reason other than making a road look better to visitors? She can't start out again on the property ladder at her age. Why should she be forced into rented accommodation? If they get away with this she would have been better off spending her life sponging off the State and getting rent paid than working hard and paying a mortgage. Strange values we have!

The solution is easy - just offer the homeowners enough that they may remain homeowners. And don't say these homeowners are offered the market value for their properties. The market values are artificially lowered as a result of the regeneration activity. They should be offered the market value of an equivalent property outside the demolition area. After all they are not demolishing these houses because they are structurally unsound or to widen the road. They are being demolished so that Kensington and Wavertree can be hidden from the visitors to the European Capital of Culture 2008 behind rows of pretty new apartments.

[AK1]

If homeowners were being offered enough to buy another property elsewhere, maybe you would have a point, but they are not. Why after years of paying a mortgage should Liz allow her home to be taken off her for no reason other than making a road look better to visitors? She can't start out again on the property ladder at her age. Why should she be forced into rented accommodation? If they get away with this she would have been better off spending her life sponging off the State and getting rent paid than working hard and paying a mortgage. Strange values we have!

The solution is easy - just offer the homeowners enough that they may remain homeowners. And don't say these homeowners are offered the market value for their properties. The market values are artificially lowered as a result of the regeneration activity. They should be offered the market value of an equivalent property outside the demolition area. After all they are not demolishing these houses because they are structurally unsound or to widen the road. They are being demolished so that Kensington and Wavertree can be hidden from the visitors to the European Capital of Culture 2008 behind rows of pretty new apartments.

Why should they be offered market value when their houses aren't worth market value. Liz was offered around 70,000 for her property plus the option of a new home somewhere else as where alot of other people. This way she would still be a homeowner. Even if she didn't take the option of a new house, 70,000 is a significant deposit on what would be a very nice house.
These houses aren't wanted by anyone and alot of them are structurally unsound, you only have to go up to some of them and see that they have signs on the front door saying ' Danger, unsafe building, do not enter'.
All this about them just making the road nicer and hiding Kenny from visitors is a load of bulls###t. If they where just making the road nicer, why are they moving the road and widening it, why are they creating better access to things like the lifebank, why are they creating a new park for the public, why are they creating new businesses which will create nearly 2000 jobs and why are they creating new low cost housing for local people? If they where trying to hide Kenny from visitors, why are areas of Kenny which no visitors will ever see being refurbished and regenerated such as Leopold Road and the surrounding roads, Prescot road shops and the new sports centre behind the library plus numerous other roads and wastelands.
If these houses are still here in 2-3 years, they will still be empty, there will still be no local amenities, crime will be even worse, quality of life will be even worse and Edge Lane will be gridlocked, and then we can all look back at what could have been. Local people are the most important thing, but there aren't many local people left here, and there hasn't been for about 20 yrs. Image to visitors is also important. Tourism is Liverpools' biggest source of income and if people are coming here and it is a dump, no-one will come again so we will lose vast amounts of money which will leave no money to be spent on regeneration. The image is also important to Liverpool people. I want to walk around this city and feel proud of it. There are too many areas of Liverpool that I walk around and feel depressed and ashamed that they exist.
This is a vital project, which some people don't want, but most people do want and need. If it doesn't go ahead, I dread to think what this area is going to be like in a couple of years!

[Howie]

See the Liverpool Social Cleansing video here.

A drive through the proposed Edge Lane development after the mass social cleansing has taken place. The video was made by the Liverpool Land (grab) Development Company and has been re-edited by Scouse Times because it was untruthful.

[Howie]

I dread to think what this area is going to be like in a couple of years!

A lot worse than it is now given the large number of properties that have been vacated to no avail. A roadworks thru' mass dereliction probably given the shambles that has been made of this project to date at great public expense.

[AK1]

A lot worse than it is now given the large number of properties that have been vacated to no avail. A roadworks thru' mass dereliction probably given the shambles that has been made of this project to date at great public expense.

Most of these properties have been vacated well before LLDC got involved. Alot of them have been derelict for over 20 years!!!

[Mike_LFC]

I have just been walking down Edge Lane from the rocket. Does anybody know why they have changed the design from the original plans. They have not narrowed the central reservation to allow for a parking lane for the residents. As for the rest of this section all I can see that they have done so far is to replace trees with trees and lampposts replaced. As for the central reservation opposite the former Skelly's site I can't believe they have just paved this part. Surely trees/bushes should of been used here.

So what they have done so far does not bode well for the rest of Edge Lane as the initial plans seem to have been ignored.