council sensitivity over Liverpool housing policy
Ciara Leeming | 17.02.2007 21:59 | Other Press | Social Struggles | Liverpool
An article I wrote for Big Issue in the North recently on Liverpool's "slash and burn" approach to regeneration triggered a furious response from the council. The piece, published last week, told the stories of residents in Anfield and Granby who are against plans for mass demolition and the way they are being carried out. I include the response published from Cllr Marilyn Fielding, executive member for housing, several weeks later. For more information see my websites.
ROWS of boarded-up properties stand shrouded in silence. The streetlamps packed up long ago, leaving some forlorn outdoor fairy lights the only source of light.
Arriving on Cairns Street, in the heart of Liverpool’s vibrant Toxteth district, on a dank winter evening feels like wandering onto the set of a Apocalyptic movie.
Home to just 10 households and more than 50 derelict properties, its once-elegant two-up, two-downs are starting to crumble and crack through neglect.
The remaining residents try to make the street attractive, painting empty buildings, planting hanging baskets and pots and displaying fairy lights.
But nothing can mask a nagging sense that this area is waiting for something.
The fate of Cairns Street, and three neighbouring roads which with it make up the Granby Triangle, is uncertain.
For more than a decade, locals have waited to learn which of their homes will be bulldozed and which refurbished under plans for a £27m redevelopment. No firm decision has yet been made, but a consultation was carried out by the developer, Lovell, and a report is due before Liverpool City Council over the coming months.
Meanwhile, however, the rot has set in. Rented properties stopped being maintained, which in turn drove tenants away and left homes empty.
The uncertainty and dereliction puts off potential buyers and local owners struggle to borrow the cash for home improvements.
As properties become vacant, contractors secure doors and windows with metal security grilles and remove bay windows they deem to be dangerous.
The situation has left locals feeling resentful and neglected. Many suspect they are being deliberately squeezed out of the area – just 10 minutes walk from the city centre – to make way for homes the working class community cannot afford.
Hazel Tilley, 51, a Granby resident for more than three decades, says: “We’re seeing the slow death of a once-thriving community. These are beautiful streets but since these plans were announced, Granby’s been ghettoised and its cohesion destroyed.
“The dereliction’s horrendous but we have no way of doing anything about it. We can’t get anything repaired and the buildings are rotting before our very eyes.
“To people here this feels like a deliberate attempt to demoralise us and drive us out so young professionals can move in. We’re not against development if we are able to benefit from it. But we want renovation and not demolition.”
The Granby project is being paid for by the city council but similar schemes are taking place across inner-city Liverpool, under the Housing Market Renewal Initiative.
The programme, known as Pathfinder, uses government funding to rejuvinate run-down areas.
Seven out of nine schemes are in the North of England: Manchester/Salford, Newcastle/Gateshead, East Lancashire, Oldham and Rochdale, South Yorkshire, East Riding and Humberside.
It has sparked outrage in parts of Liverpool, where critics accuse the council of concentrating too heavily on demolition at the expense of home improvement.
More than 3,750 homes are due to be bulldozed in the city’s Pathfinder areas between now and 2018.
Like their counterparts in Edge Lane – who in November persuaded a judge to quash dozens of compulsory purchase orders – and other parts of Liverpool, campaigners in Granby want existing terraces adapted to meet modern structural and environmental standards.
Liverpool’s Liberal Party is a fierce critic of its clearance programme and campaigned on an anti-demolition platform at last year’s local elections.
They say the scheme is driving low-earners out of the city, and pushing house prices out of reach of most local people, fuelling debt.
And they claim the neglect of areas like Granby is a deliberate tactic aimed at clearing the way for redevelopment.
Group leader, Cllr Steve Radford, says: “The council’s attitude seems to be that if people dare to resist, their community will be run down by stealth until they leave. I don’t believe there is a malicious intent there, but more of a political calculation.
“By emptying housing association and council homes and boarding them up, the market is prevented from operating normally. The areas are left to rot until residents get fed up and move away.”
Deliberate or not, the pattern is happening. Across the city in Anfield and Breckfield, a Pathfinder area where phased demolition is just beginning, the mood among residents changed from reluctance to leave to desperation to escape, as the dereliction attracts drug addicts, vandals and social blight.
Margaret Smith, 62, of Vienna Street, is one of dozens of residents stranded with vacant properties all around. Her home of 42 years is in one of the last stages of the scheme and she must wait seven to nine years to be bought out by the council.
She says: “It is horrendous and we all just want out. This used to be a lovely area, and when we heard about the plans we didn’t want to leave, but it’s got worse and worse and we’re now living in a slum. There is terrible anti-social behaviour every night and we are terrified. But we are stuck here.”
Liverpool City Council is partway through a review of its demolition plans, and may be forced to scale it back as central government slashes funding for Pathfinder.
But the authority is adament that it has the support of the majority affected by housing renewal and says proper consultation was carried out in all areas.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Frank Doron, assistant executive member for housing, says criticism of the policy is unfair. He is keen to stress that efforts are being made to support residents in redevelopment areas, through environmental works, improved security and financial assistance.
He says: “Unfortunately we can’t please everyone, and communities are inevitably divided over what is going on. Some residents want their housing replaced while others don’t and are very vocal about it.
“Liverpool Council hasn’t run anywhere down – it has happened naturally over a number of years. All these areas we are talking about have seen serious decline and under-investment over a number of decades.
“I am not one for letting the bulldozers run amok but this is about listening to what communities themselves feel is the way forward.
“Having heard the views of many residents who want this scheme to go ahead, I am certain what we’re doing is right.”
RESPONSE AS SENT BY CLLR FIELDING:
The Reality of Regeneration in Liverpool
In her article featured in your 8-14th January 2007 edition, Ciara Leeming paints an incredibly negative view of HMR and a range of other regeneration initiatives in Liverpool. Like much of the commentary on the 2008 Capital of Culture, the piece reflects the author’s failure to understand the facts or appreciate the reality of the transformation that is happening today. As a local Councillor, Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and Housing with Liverpool City Council and Board member with the Pathfinder, NewHeartlands, perhaps I can help.
Despite experiencing long term economic decline and significant challenges that stem from this fact, the Granby area of Liverpool has a strong sense of community and clear identity. LCC is directing substantial resources to addressing the challenges this neighbourhood faces and significant work is underway.
The City Council has recently agreed to extend the Renewal Area period for a further 5 years .A lead developer is in place and detailed consultation with residents is ongoing to identify ways forward that build on the physical, social and cultural infrastructure that exists. The suggestion that there is any intent to force residents out of the area is entirely without foundation.
On the contrary, the aim of all stakeholders involved in the regeneration of this historic neighbourhood is to respond to the needs of local people and to deliver a range and quality of housing that meets their aspirations.
The allegation that the HMR programme has "sparked outrage" amongst local residents is a further misrepresentation of the truth. Yes, there is a small, vocal minority who, for a variety of reasons, are opposed to the HMR programme.
But the reality is that HMR plans in Liverpool are underpinned by an extensive consultation programme.
The simplistic suggestion that refurbishment alone can provide the range and quality of housing needed, simply ignores the facts. We have a housing infrastructure created for a population of 800,000 where now we have around 460,000 residents.
The legacy of our industrial past also means that in some areas we have an oversupply of a single type of property. This restricts choice and can force local people out of a neighbourhood when their lifestyle changes.
HMR is helping address these problems, bringing much needed investment to transform communities. Strategic, targeted demolition and new build are part of the solution but the reality is that over the lifetime of the programme HMR will see six times more homes refurbished than cleared.
Possibly the biggest challenge we face is supporting residents through the regeneration process. Specific initiatives have been implemented as part of our Living Through Change Programme but turning round long term decline isn't easy and change takes time.
Additional resources would help speed up the process and we are working with colleagues in the Pathfinder to maximise investment. Part of this is about convincing the Government that we need guaranteed, long term funding to build on the progress we have made.
In the meantime, we will continue working with local people to address their concerns and develop new, innovative ways of responding to the challenges ahead.
Finally, I'd like to invite Ms Leeming, or any other journalist who has a genuine interest in the regeneration of Liverpool to come and see for themselves. There's a long way to go but progress is being made and with the continued support of our communities then we can create neighbourhoods for the future.
Arriving on Cairns Street, in the heart of Liverpool’s vibrant Toxteth district, on a dank winter evening feels like wandering onto the set of a Apocalyptic movie.
Home to just 10 households and more than 50 derelict properties, its once-elegant two-up, two-downs are starting to crumble and crack through neglect.
The remaining residents try to make the street attractive, painting empty buildings, planting hanging baskets and pots and displaying fairy lights.
But nothing can mask a nagging sense that this area is waiting for something.
The fate of Cairns Street, and three neighbouring roads which with it make up the Granby Triangle, is uncertain.
For more than a decade, locals have waited to learn which of their homes will be bulldozed and which refurbished under plans for a £27m redevelopment. No firm decision has yet been made, but a consultation was carried out by the developer, Lovell, and a report is due before Liverpool City Council over the coming months.
Meanwhile, however, the rot has set in. Rented properties stopped being maintained, which in turn drove tenants away and left homes empty.
The uncertainty and dereliction puts off potential buyers and local owners struggle to borrow the cash for home improvements.
As properties become vacant, contractors secure doors and windows with metal security grilles and remove bay windows they deem to be dangerous.
The situation has left locals feeling resentful and neglected. Many suspect they are being deliberately squeezed out of the area – just 10 minutes walk from the city centre – to make way for homes the working class community cannot afford.
Hazel Tilley, 51, a Granby resident for more than three decades, says: “We’re seeing the slow death of a once-thriving community. These are beautiful streets but since these plans were announced, Granby’s been ghettoised and its cohesion destroyed.
“The dereliction’s horrendous but we have no way of doing anything about it. We can’t get anything repaired and the buildings are rotting before our very eyes.
“To people here this feels like a deliberate attempt to demoralise us and drive us out so young professionals can move in. We’re not against development if we are able to benefit from it. But we want renovation and not demolition.”
The Granby project is being paid for by the city council but similar schemes are taking place across inner-city Liverpool, under the Housing Market Renewal Initiative.
The programme, known as Pathfinder, uses government funding to rejuvinate run-down areas.
Seven out of nine schemes are in the North of England: Manchester/Salford, Newcastle/Gateshead, East Lancashire, Oldham and Rochdale, South Yorkshire, East Riding and Humberside.
It has sparked outrage in parts of Liverpool, where critics accuse the council of concentrating too heavily on demolition at the expense of home improvement.
More than 3,750 homes are due to be bulldozed in the city’s Pathfinder areas between now and 2018.
Like their counterparts in Edge Lane – who in November persuaded a judge to quash dozens of compulsory purchase orders – and other parts of Liverpool, campaigners in Granby want existing terraces adapted to meet modern structural and environmental standards.
Liverpool’s Liberal Party is a fierce critic of its clearance programme and campaigned on an anti-demolition platform at last year’s local elections.
They say the scheme is driving low-earners out of the city, and pushing house prices out of reach of most local people, fuelling debt.
And they claim the neglect of areas like Granby is a deliberate tactic aimed at clearing the way for redevelopment.
Group leader, Cllr Steve Radford, says: “The council’s attitude seems to be that if people dare to resist, their community will be run down by stealth until they leave. I don’t believe there is a malicious intent there, but more of a political calculation.
“By emptying housing association and council homes and boarding them up, the market is prevented from operating normally. The areas are left to rot until residents get fed up and move away.”
Deliberate or not, the pattern is happening. Across the city in Anfield and Breckfield, a Pathfinder area where phased demolition is just beginning, the mood among residents changed from reluctance to leave to desperation to escape, as the dereliction attracts drug addicts, vandals and social blight.
Margaret Smith, 62, of Vienna Street, is one of dozens of residents stranded with vacant properties all around. Her home of 42 years is in one of the last stages of the scheme and she must wait seven to nine years to be bought out by the council.
She says: “It is horrendous and we all just want out. This used to be a lovely area, and when we heard about the plans we didn’t want to leave, but it’s got worse and worse and we’re now living in a slum. There is terrible anti-social behaviour every night and we are terrified. But we are stuck here.”
Liverpool City Council is partway through a review of its demolition plans, and may be forced to scale it back as central government slashes funding for Pathfinder.
But the authority is adament that it has the support of the majority affected by housing renewal and says proper consultation was carried out in all areas.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Frank Doron, assistant executive member for housing, says criticism of the policy is unfair. He is keen to stress that efforts are being made to support residents in redevelopment areas, through environmental works, improved security and financial assistance.
He says: “Unfortunately we can’t please everyone, and communities are inevitably divided over what is going on. Some residents want their housing replaced while others don’t and are very vocal about it.
“Liverpool Council hasn’t run anywhere down – it has happened naturally over a number of years. All these areas we are talking about have seen serious decline and under-investment over a number of decades.
“I am not one for letting the bulldozers run amok but this is about listening to what communities themselves feel is the way forward.
“Having heard the views of many residents who want this scheme to go ahead, I am certain what we’re doing is right.”
RESPONSE AS SENT BY CLLR FIELDING:
The Reality of Regeneration in Liverpool
In her article featured in your 8-14th January 2007 edition, Ciara Leeming paints an incredibly negative view of HMR and a range of other regeneration initiatives in Liverpool. Like much of the commentary on the 2008 Capital of Culture, the piece reflects the author’s failure to understand the facts or appreciate the reality of the transformation that is happening today. As a local Councillor, Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and Housing with Liverpool City Council and Board member with the Pathfinder, NewHeartlands, perhaps I can help.
Despite experiencing long term economic decline and significant challenges that stem from this fact, the Granby area of Liverpool has a strong sense of community and clear identity. LCC is directing substantial resources to addressing the challenges this neighbourhood faces and significant work is underway.
The City Council has recently agreed to extend the Renewal Area period for a further 5 years .A lead developer is in place and detailed consultation with residents is ongoing to identify ways forward that build on the physical, social and cultural infrastructure that exists. The suggestion that there is any intent to force residents out of the area is entirely without foundation.
On the contrary, the aim of all stakeholders involved in the regeneration of this historic neighbourhood is to respond to the needs of local people and to deliver a range and quality of housing that meets their aspirations.
The allegation that the HMR programme has "sparked outrage" amongst local residents is a further misrepresentation of the truth. Yes, there is a small, vocal minority who, for a variety of reasons, are opposed to the HMR programme.
But the reality is that HMR plans in Liverpool are underpinned by an extensive consultation programme.
The simplistic suggestion that refurbishment alone can provide the range and quality of housing needed, simply ignores the facts. We have a housing infrastructure created for a population of 800,000 where now we have around 460,000 residents.
The legacy of our industrial past also means that in some areas we have an oversupply of a single type of property. This restricts choice and can force local people out of a neighbourhood when their lifestyle changes.
HMR is helping address these problems, bringing much needed investment to transform communities. Strategic, targeted demolition and new build are part of the solution but the reality is that over the lifetime of the programme HMR will see six times more homes refurbished than cleared.
Possibly the biggest challenge we face is supporting residents through the regeneration process. Specific initiatives have been implemented as part of our Living Through Change Programme but turning round long term decline isn't easy and change takes time.
Additional resources would help speed up the process and we are working with colleagues in the Pathfinder to maximise investment. Part of this is about convincing the Government that we need guaranteed, long term funding to build on the progress we have made.
In the meantime, we will continue working with local people to address their concerns and develop new, innovative ways of responding to the challenges ahead.
Finally, I'd like to invite Ms Leeming, or any other journalist who has a genuine interest in the regeneration of Liverpool to come and see for themselves. There's a long way to go but progress is being made and with the continued support of our communities then we can create neighbourhoods for the future.
Ciara Leeming
e-mail:
info@ciaraleeming.co.uk
Homepage:
http://www.ciaraleeming.co.uk and http://ciaraleeming.blogspot.com
Comments
Hide the following 4 comments
Rubbish
18.02.2007 18:25
You have a situation were elected counsellors are swayed not by what local people want but what 'professional' consultants, say to them. The whole regenertaion fiasco dates back to the 1980s visit of the tory home secretary Micheal Hesaltine - when every single so called regenrator has used a top down approach - thousands of people have made a fortune and the people of Liverpool are no better off than they were 20 odd years ago when the riots happened.
I work for a regenration organisation - and I see the wages some of these people are on and I see very little happening to benefit local people. I see the wheeling and the dealing and the winks so the same characters get the european money.
we will hera the truth in yeard to come about how local people were screwed out of their communities,how local people, never really benefitted. And the characters whose bank accounts were regenerated, will be screwing other local people in some other Objective 1 community.
Good on you For exposing the bullshit in the big issue.
Check out www.catalystmedia.org.uk for more info
David Havens
Lib-Dem's housing policy has been a disaster...
22.02.2007 00:17
New Labour, or 1990's moderate Labour councillors never effectively opposed Stock Transfer, but were instead the original supporters in council of Stock Transfer, when 'moderate' Labour encouraged working class council tenants to vote in 1992 to agree to transfer all the tower blocks, bar a few, to the Liverpool Housing Action Trust. Later still, we had Peter Coventry Labour's council chair of housing (until May 1998) promoting Stock Transfer of Speke and Garston's housing to South Liverpool Housing Company Limited. Coventry along with other Labour councillors and local MP Angela Eagle wrote letters to tenants in October/November 1998 telling them it was in their best interest to vote YES to Stock Transfer. Local BBC Radio Merseyside celebrity Roger Philips appeared on the widely distributed video tape encouraging tenants to vote YES, while he was also chairing the debates on the subject on his daily phone in show, he was also deputy chairman of the so called 'Democracy Commission' in Liverpool around the same time.
The Lib-Dem's will have succeeded in privatising the entire council stock in less than nine years, many of us made our stand against it, many of us lost our homes and saw our communities destroyed and families, friends and neighbours suffer as a consequence.
There has been no justice in the Lib-Dem's housing policy, fundementally anti-working class in its direction. From the Norris Green Boot estate fiasko, to the Gillmoss betrayal. We've read the stories of the Boot estate, I was there fighting for our family home and community before the rest of the city heard of the injustice back in 1998 and 1999, being ordered out of public meetings under threat of arrest for speaking the truth, for predicting the chaos that would occur, faced police harassment, threats of violence off the local thug who betrayed the community, who is a member of the Labour party. The fundemental lie sold to tenants on the Boot estate was that the houses couldn't be repaired or improved but had to be demolished, end of story. So any alternatives such as an estate action programme was excluded, the estate was condemned by the well known local house owner and the tenants who he conned into supporting plans for demolition.
In Gillmoss an estate only built in the 1960's, thus not an estate supposedly beyond repair, has been cleared of it's people, in many ways the injustice there has been hidden, yet the same processes that occured on the Boot estate have happened there, the same hired burn out team sent in to terrorise out determined tenants, who the police are informed about and called out to arrest, but never arrest. The lie to clear the people out, was the land was needed for the tram system, that failed to get government funding for, and for space for a Tesco's that has also fallen through, thus families have been forced to move out, many paid a pittance for homes they'd bought and done a great deal of work on over the years.
At no time did either the Boot estate or the Gillmoss estate ever gain a level of political understanding of what was being done to them.
At no time did the working class majority ever set their own agenda.
At no time did they stand together united and say "NO!" and demand their fundemental rights!
However in Bootle, people did learn the lessons and have stood up and said "NO!", what the current situation is I can't say, having not been in contact for many months.
The point is that working class people have to take control over our 'collective' lives otherwise we will continue here in Liverpool to live with the consequences of decisions made to make profits for the wealthy by middle class orientated politicians.
Where's the debate on Liverpool Indymedia these days???
Kai Andersen
red pepper
22.02.2007 21:09
Ciara Leeming
Homepage:
http://ciaraleeming.blogspot.com/
Response to Cllr Fielding on House Crusher
05.03.2007 05:19
Firstly a big thank you to the Big Issue for raising the whole debate over Pathfinder - a scheme we would more aptly have called House Crusher
Cllr Fielding says the council needs long term investment, sounds good but what mindless state planners throughout history show is the utter inability of the bureaucratic sausage machine to take account of market forces changing
Yes over the last four years many terraced areas of the city have seen 155% increases in house prices. Evidence of market failure we think not!
Recently we in The Liberal Party Group forced the lumbering Council housing department to put up for sale dozens of long term vacant properties. Within days we were inundated with local families wanting to buy and develop them. The housing market Renewal policy is more about restricting market forces, blighting areas and squeezing out real competition - nothing Liberal about our Lib Dems
These increases are not restricted to areas of House Crusher but throughout the city.
Liverpool has instead soaring house inflation out of proportion of the changes in wages.
Yes , House crusher is driving up prices by reducing supply of affordable housing, at the same time the council waiting lists are soaring to record heights. 24,000 on the last property pool list headcount!
Cllr Fielding refers to herself as a local councillor, she skillfully avoids mentioning that her own County ward does not have to suffer from House Crusher demolitions
As for the wards which have had the brunt of house crusher so far, both Princess Park and Kensington Ward were recent LIb DEm losses to the Labour.
House crusher/pathfinder is so popular that voters have slung out the ruling party were people have suffered the outcome.
Cllr Fielding says there has been extensive consultation , in that she is correct. However those results have been cynically manipulated.
Residents frequently have said yes to selective demolition of unsound property, that has been twisted to justify whole scale demolition of areas where between 75% and 85% of the homes are structurally sound.
Who benefits , the effective monopoly of four national house building companies, at the exclusion of small local builders
The Joseph Rowntree research shows that people are effectively losing out by 30,00 when trying to0 pay for replacement homes. Whilst owner occupiers are being penalised.
Most of the demolition areas are housing association stock, in effect the taxpayer is expected to fork out millions to fund housing associations who have failed to maintain or upgrade their properties
Cllr Steve Radford
Leader of the Liberal Party Group
PS If Cllr Fielding is so pleased at the project I challenge her to extend the demolition programme to her own ward. Lastly the sad thing is that Labour are equally signed up as equal partners in the demolition coalition
Cllr Steve Radford
e-mail:
northwestliberalparty@hotmail.co.uk
Homepage:
http://www.liverpoolliberalparty.motime.com