Edge Lane Development

[jay2410]

1. all they have done is to titivate it up with new kerbs and new lights...That's what annoys me the most - tax that I have to pay has gone on virtually installing gold paving down Edge Lane so it looks better. It'll soon weather and look exactly like it did before hand 10 years down the line...


2. ...They've done nothing at all to improve the flow of traffic in the slightest. ...
3. Looking at the streaming video of Edge Lane, all they are doing at the Church location is putting in an extra lane near the traffic lights so you can turn right. That's the only extra piece of road they're putting there - hardly worth the millions of pounds being spent on the 'redevelopment'.

Firstly, the kerbs and lights where needed, yes it will weather like everything else, nothing lasts for ever, golden rule of capitalism is that you must speculate to accumulate i.e nice looking liverpool attracts more money meaning more money to spend on keeping liverpool looking nice!

Secondly I also noticed new water pipes being layed amongst other things which would account for the longevity of the project.

Thirdly the problem with traffic on edge lane always has and always will be where two lanes turns into one, Im sure once the houses have been demolished it will be possible to make at least two lanes either way around the church. I wouldnt use the streaming video as gospel its never going to look 100% like the finished article.

In summary your critisism is based on work in progress, whilst being fully behind the authorities plans I can see some merits to Pascoe et al's arguements, however this wasn't the place to fight against the erosion of liverpool's past, that area needs to redeveloped, for the good of the city. Or we could just leave everything as it is, curl up in our little town that time forgot and die. Thank god its not up to you!

[Cadfael]

In summary your critisism is based on work in progress, whilst being fully behind the authorities plans I can see some merits to Pascoe et al's arguements, however this wasn't the place to fight against the erosion of liverpool's past, that area needs to redeveloped, for the good of the city. Or we could just leave everything as it is, curl up in our little town that time forgot and die. Thank god its not up to you!

I'll direct you to my website at www.edge-lane.com if you've not yet seen it.

My summary is down to two things, having seen the plans for what the new development will do to the area, and two, having travelled up Edge Lane recently, it serves no more purpose to the Motorist than it used to. That is my gripe. Why should I pay my taxes for someone to come along and try and make the road look nicer without looking at the problem of traffic?

Ms Pascoe isn't doing this out of spite, she's a woman in her 60's and not in great heath, and doesn't want to be given a pittance for her house at her time of life.

[jay2410]

Clearly she doesn’t want to be moving etc and she has every right to put up a fight that is the beauty of a democracy. That’s where my sympathies lay. Do we know how much she has actually been offered? So little that she could not move anywhere else?
I also believe she has degrees in architecture and environmental science, and I wouldn’t argue with her that the existing housing could rejuvenated, but I honestly ask you how many people would want to there live there? The fact know one wants to live there also renders the properties around there virtually worthless.

And even if the houses were restored that doesn’t solve the traffic problems.
Which is ultimately what this is all about, and to repeat myself the real traffic causing problems can't be dealt with until the houses are cleared back. Your own plans admit that it would be a tight squeeze to fit a dual carriage way in the final phase.

Your alternatives include more traffic lights and crossings then the original plans! That will help traffic flow!

[Cadfael]

The price I heard for properties on Edge Lane was £50,000. Sod knows where you can get a house for £50,000 these days. Coupled with the fact that these new houses/apartments are going to be sold for £125,000, some one is making a healthy profit somewhere.

The traffic problem will never go away from Edge Lane whether there are houses there or open land. Dont forget it was planned for the M62 to go all the way in to Liverpool and this was the chosen land for it. When the second council got in, they messed all the plans up and left what we see today - it is the same as the Kings Drive Ring Road.

I'm sure if you care to read the website properly, traffic flow has been studied well with the alternative plans that we suggest. This isn't just a piece of paper at the traffic lights, we asked Liverpool Uni to produce readings judged by the traffic flow, the average amount of cars that pass through each day and where the problems occur.
It is not about the speed of cars going down that is the problem, it is the average speed of a car throughout Edge Lane.

[drone_pilot]

Saw this, this morning, I know it has nothing to do with liverpool but it makes me wonder how much has been spent on this fiasco.

Empty houses see £800,000 spend
A total of £800,000 has been spent maintaining empty houses earmarked for demolition in Stoke-on-Trent.

BBC Read More

[shoney]

knock them down, and move on, obviously no-one really wants to live in them

[Howie]

Edge Lane demolition will 'improve Liverpool' claims developer
Jan 15 2008

THE demolition of 370 Victorian houses on Edge Lane will “vastly improve a gateway into the city”, developers said yesterday.

But campaigners trying to block the forced sale of almost 70 of the houses say the scheme will destroy what is left of their community.

More...

[lee timmins]

[QUOTE=Cadfael;99486]

How are they going to get past the biggest hurdle on Edge Lane which is the Church on the corner of Edge Lane/Durning Road?

they cant knock the church down,i used to go to edge hill,and all the after school fights was held there to see who the cock of the school was.

It's true. Nothing has been done to help the traffic problem from the M62 down Edge Lane. No new roads have been created, roads have been blocked off which were hardly used before. You point out one area that the motorist has benefitted from from the Rocket up to McDonalds and I'll buy everyone a pint. The whole Edge Lane experience has been a licence to waste money on new kerbstones and new lights so far - nothing else.

[Cadfael]

It's quite funny but about 2 years ago, I was stuck in a traffic jam on Edge Lane from the Rocket. Now that all the millions has been spent on the road, I'm stuck in exactly the same traffic jam as nothing has been done to help the motorist.

A fantastic effort

[Howie]

£9m investment threat over forced Edge Lane house sales
Jan 16 2008
By Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post



MILLIONS of pounds could be withdrawn from the Edge Lane West project if developers are prevented from forcing homeowners to sell their houses, a planning inquiry heard yesterday.

Opponents of the scheme told the planning inspector they believed housing market failure in the area was deliberately engineered. as part of a conspiracy.

The planning inspector is hearing evidence to decide whether to uphold a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on almost 70 houses along Edge Lane and surrounding streets.

If the order goes through the houses and 300 others will be demolished along to make way for a wider "urban boulevard".

The scheme is being spearheaded by Liverpool Land Development Company (LLDC) and national regeneration agency English Partnerships (EP).

The agency’s area director for Merseyside and Cheshire, Eliot Lewis-Ward, told the inquiry his organisation would plough more than £9m into the Edge Lane West scheme.

But he added: "In the event that the order is not confirmed, or only confirmed in part, English Partnerships would have to re-appraise its involvement in the scheme.

"Without the order’s confirmation, it is very unlikely the envisaged regeneration benefits would be achieved, which could result in our resources being directed elsewhere."

As well as road widening, the plans include 280 new houses, a new medical centre and shops.

Because Liverpool City Council already owns the majority of the houses, and there is no appetite to go ahead with the project on a "piecemeal" basis, it is unclear how the project would proceed without English Partnerships.

Mr Lewis-Ward told the Daily Post if the inquiry ruled against the CPO, his agency would "re-evaluate" their position to see if the plan wa the right one for them.

It is the second CPO issued on the properties.

The first was quashed in the High Court in November, 2006, on a technicality.

Elizabeth Pascoe, head of opponents’ group Better Environmental Vision for Edge Lane (BEVEL) brought that action after a similar public inquiry in December, 2005. Ms Pascoe, who claims to have spent 10,000 unpaid hours fighting the plans, said in her opening statement: "I think it is most unfortunate that we find ourselves back here again, wasting public money.

"I cannot bring myself to do politically correct, and it is very hard to avoid this becoming anything other than antagonistic or acrimonious.

"I have watched them for years using funding made available to help us instead to destroy us. It is impossible for our side not to seem like a polemic because as almost anyone in the street will tell you, ‘this stinks’."

LLDC and English Partnership’s case hinges in part on claims the area is suffering from housing market failure because few people want to live in the houses.

But Ms Pascoe told the inquiry she believed the situation was artificially engineered.

She said: "Two years ago when the previous CPO kicked off in 2005 we had 131 empty properties in these orderlands (correct), mostly vacated since 2002

"Of those 131 empty, 127 were social tenants given incentives to go elsewhere."

Chris Lockhart-Mummery, QC, opened the case for the CPO.

He said developers would rely on arguments put forward in the previous inquiry because they remained valid.

He said: "Whilst accepting the burden must remain on EP to justify confirmation of this order, it must be incumbent on objectors to show why the conclusions on the merits in 2005/2006 are not sound today."

"If the Secretary of State were to arrive at different conclusions from those reached in the decision letter relating to [the first] CPO, she would have to have regard to the merits of making consistent decisions and to give reasons for arriving at a different conclusion."

Mr Lockhart-Mummery called Mike Burchnall, Liverpool City Council’s assistant executive director for regeneration services.

Mr Burchnall said an alternative plan for the area submitted by BEVEL, known as Plan B, was unsuitable.

He doubted if it could get either planning permission, secure funding, or deliver the regeneration promised by the LLDC plans.

A report will be drawn up by a planning inspector and passed to Local Government Minister Hazel Blears is expected to announce her decision by the summer.

benschofield@dailypost.co.uk

Source: Liverpool Daily Post

[AK1]

It's quite funny but about 2 years ago, I was stuck in a traffic jam on Edge Lane from the Rocket. Now that all the millions has been spent on the road, I'm stuck in exactly the same traffic jam as nothing has been done to help the motorist.

A fantastic effort

It's important to remember that there's still roadworks taking place along edge lane so there's still going to be a few heavy traffic jams. Even the project leader himself said that the improvements to the road aren't major, they are designed to help the traffic flow better, which will happen when the entire project is complete. He said the main objective of the scheme is to improve the local area with new housing, jobs etc etc

[Kev]

Home failure ‘conspiracy’ is denied

ALLEGATIONS that housing market failure along Edge Lane were deliberately engineered were strongly denied at a planning inquiry yesterday. Read

[Cadfael]

Home failure ‘conspiracy’ is denied

ALLEGATIONS that housing market failure along Edge Lane were deliberately engineered were strongly denied at a planning inquiry yesterday. Read

Nice of the reporter not to include my website address despite a nice e-mail from him saying that on his next report, he'll try and include it.

An 'urban boulevard'? You mean concrete and flat stones for as far as the eye can see?

I fail to see just one point - forget my involvement and the road itself, LCC seem to concentrate on the houses themselves saying that no one likes them and that they're falling down. Is it just me or would anyone else like to have a house as big as that? They're bloody massive inside - I've been in to one that is still being used and you would pay over a million if the same house was in a different area. I grant you that these were built before the success of the motorcar in today's terms, so there's no drive or garage, but sod me, if one of those houses came on the market for buttons, I'd certainly buy it and do it up in my own time.

The 'aging' part of it has nothing to do with the problem. Why not knock down Speke Hall then as that's getting on a bit.

You only have to look at an official report titled 'Edge Lane Survey Report' at http://www.edgelane.moonfruit.com/surveys to see that these are structurally sound!

[AK1]

It's true that alot of the houses are in good condition, but it's also true that no-one wants them and they are in the way of creating a much cleaner, greener, safer and prosperous environment. If they stayed they would simply end up getting diced up into cheap flats that would fall into further dereliction plus the road would become ever more congested and dangerous and new facilities couldn't be built.
You have to think ahead, I would love to see the houses kept but only if all the other enhancements could take place aswell which they can't. (by the way, the new paving etc is granite, not concrete.

[Howie]

Edge Lane demolition "10 times more expensive" than restoring area
Jan 24 2008
by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

IT COULD cost 10 times as much to demolish homes on Liverpool’s Edge Lane than refurbish them, a public inquiry heard yesterday.

More...