Pathfinders - Darwen Public Inquiry... <IMG SRC="http://www.

[Anonymous]

This started yesterday. Note that the Council has of course all the cards stacked in its favour - the ability to hire a barrister at public cost etc.

The people who are fighting for their homes are representing themselves. No doubt being scared out of their wits by the leagl team of the council.

Adam at SAVE only heard about the PI yesterday afternoon. He spent last night putting together a statement on behalf of the residents and set off early this morning to attend and hopefully speak at the Inquiry.

But it's all such a David and Goliath battle.

Grrrr.



http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2006/3/15/889044.html

 

[Anonymous]

"He said that to repair the houses instead of demolishing them would have cost around £1.5million more and the sustainability of the area could not have been guaranteed".
Saeed Osman, deputy director for regeneration

Sustainable to bulldoze hundreds of solid old terraces creating tonnes of waste pollution and landfill to replace them with placci windowed gypsum concrete and brick walled contemporary boxes that will be falling apart in 40 years.

The victorian buildings at 100+ years could economically be renovated that would be truely sustainable

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, they aren't interested in sustainability as we know it - but there are those who will be making a heap of money from the cleared 'brownfield' sites Like the mass builders whose crappy boxes will replace period buildings. Not of course the homeowners who are being removed from their homes and given derisory compensation.

Strange how they were declared unfit in many cases by someone with no qualifications and without going inside. Genuine survey have proved them to be perfectly fit and able to be repaired without that sort of expenditure.

But the home owners are unable to afford barristers to represent them at inquiries, so the whole process is as ever skewed against the poor.



Pathfinders

 

[Anonymous]

Hi all
Darwen with blackburn council dangled a carrot to all the local residents in the area by publicising the fact that grants would be available to refurbish housing in the area . shortly after they carried out a housing stock survey inviting resident to say what was wrong with there property!! of course everyone said the houses were in need of losts repair .
guess what happen next they condemned them as being unfit for habitation. I made sure no one filled the forms in on my street.
The council will always get there way.

They failed to notiefy local residents about the new health center .They built it with approx 50 car parking spaces it probably has 50 staff !! where do all the patients . answer on my street . so what do the council do chop down trees and make a car park on the only bit of green space . it half way up a steep hill great for wheel chair access and kids sledging in the snow . its 1/3 of a mile from the bus station . The council answer , put a bus on which drives around in a circle all day. the best thing is we now have a 22m tin hut . the building next to the old health center is a disused old 1800 school building on four floor more sq feet than the new building .its near to the bus station and has a car parking on the old play ground . to much effort to convert . and who would get the 22m contract to build a tin hut

The council has also lost amendend plans on a new housing estate
which change from 16 houses to 7 houses and 27 flats in a appartment block with 30 car parking spaces then sent a copy to the town hall for inspection just before it closes and within hours of the planing meeting so no one can look at them.

Refuse to let residents speek at the meeting.

They also read out two objection letter one from
a care in the community person who was worryied about her cats being run over and one from an asylum seeker who was only in the house for 2 months and discarded all the letter from approx 20 residents .
we even had the local councillor knocking on doors saying what a good thing this development would and then sitting on the planning board pushing it through !!

so what chance do the local residents have
if they fail to follow there own rules !!

The council also give personal information to the developers ! data protection act !

A councillor has just been suspened (wounder if its on full pay)for allegedly look at porn on his computer
so thats what they do all day!!
and I'm paying for it!

 

[Anonymous]

Yes I agree - councils manipulate situations to get what they want.

My local authority is exactly the same - complaints get responses which are simply excuses for what they have done.

I could spend a very long time telling everything which is wrong in Tynedale!

I gather this week they have awarded fifty grand to build a new football facility on what is left of a well-used Public Open Space, ignoring the fact it is POS when the planning application was advertised, as that would have meant their own policies for POS would have come into play and it wouldn't be allowed.

The fact that the planning permission for this facility hasn't been granted as the County Council says the access road is dangerous seems to have been ignored here. Local residents whose homes and gardens back onto this space are very much against the football facility on the grounds of noise and nuisance, and it is is against FA policy to have new football facilities near homes. This is also a Conservation Area, and how this 'preserves and enhances' the CA is beyond me. Despite all this, a vociferous minority want it, the local authority has policies to provide sports facilities, so it will go ahead. Another unspolit stretch of land spoiled.

Another part of this field (which is - or was - part of a lovely walk leading to a World Heritage Site) has been bulldozed into a BMX track. Although this was given local authority funding, the Town Council who is the Trustee of the charity in whom the land is vested (as Open Space...) is now going to let it to a private club. I've complained to the Chief Executive and I'm waiting for the usual dismissive response.

Pathfinders however are another matter entirely - as you say, the whole situation is manipulated from the outset, with people thinking they were going to get grants then the council 'deciding' on the basis of this that the houses are 'unfit' and it would cost too much to repair. This is of course because they are getting vast sums of cash to replace, and demolition quotas are in place. So regardless of the fitnesss of much of this housing, demolition has to happen.

Do post what you have said here on the Fight for our Homes Message Board. Let's keep telling as many people as possible how terrible this bulldoze the north policy is.

I'm waiting to hear from Adam Wilkinson how the Public Inquiry went yesterday. I gather that local residents are trying to represent themselves - with the council of course able to hire a barrister and other professionsla to defend their policies.

Adam wasn't told of the public inquiry until late on Wednesday, when it was already underway, but he's gone to Blackburn to try to put the case to the inspector for those fighting for their homes.



http://www.fightforourhomes.com

 

[Anonymous]

Report from the local press:


http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2006/3/16/889138.html

 

[Anonymous]

The latest report from the Darwen inquiry:


http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2006/3/17/889233.html

 

[Anonymous]

Hi
local council have approved 200+houses on the old crown wall paper mill site
more than big enough to build the academy on and only 100 yard from from the proposed site
thats town planning for you
or should I say 200 more rates bills coming in
whats the betting the plans will be amended to
more cheep and nasty timber framed appartment lets see how many they can squeeze on . why do people pay 90.000 for afew stud wall osb joists and plastic plumbing, they don't even plaster the walls anymore, these appartments are built using the cheepest materials and quickest labour method to keep the cost down for the developer and maximize profit .
The local council have condemned another period building to the bullbozer . they are to replace the old baths built in 1934 not even going to bother to save the facade accrington brick with stone heads and cills copings with a large colonnaded stone entrance with stone steps
They are slowly striping the history from our village
building by building
Anyone intrested in buying the old adult education collage (Darwen) another building being sold off buy the council thay can't flatten it .think its listed see DIXON WEBB web site

 

[Anonymous]

You can check if the building is listed on the Images of England website, and if it's for sale it may be worth contacting Ela at SAVE 0207 253 3500 and asking if it can be considered as Building of the Month (a new one is required!)

With regard to the baths - yes, tearing down anything of interest seems to be fashionable again. Is this in a Conservation Area?

I've been reading the SAVE written evidence to the Darwen inquiry. It's very odd that neither the local autority nor the Government Office for the North West, despite SAVE's involvement in this, failed to notify SAVE of the date of the inquiry. Adam only found out that it was underway on Wednesday, and had to put this together Wednesday afternoon and evening and travel up for the inquiry Thursday.

It makes interesting reading. It is SAVE's contention that the wrong Housing Act has been used to 'assess' the condition of the houses and condemn them. It is also SAVE's contention that the local authority has acted wrongly by not giving some financial aid to those who are being deprived of their homes in order to have legal representation at the inquiry. This deprivation of homes probably contravenes the Human Rights Act.

The houses differ very little from the Conservation Area which is nearby - but those houses aren't being compulsorily purchased!

People have not been informed either of why individual houses were supposed to have not passed the 'fitness for habitation' test - simply sent a pro-forma letter out of the blue, saying their homes had been condemned.

The local authority claims also that the houses are subject to mining subsidence - although historic maps show no mining in the area, and there is also a railway line running through - which must magically be safe!

It's apparent to all in fact except the council that what is going on in Darwen is an outrage.

It's also hugely apparent that there was no 'housing market failure' here - the local authority is simply land grabbing. There was about 97% occupancy of housing, which was changing hands up until the demolition plans were announced a couple of years ago for around seventy thousand. One person at the inquiry says he has now been offered eighteen thousand for his house. The area is so blighted as the council have moved people out and boarded up houses that of course values have plummetted. No way can he buy anything else for that price.

It is apparent to all that there is a hidden agenda - clear the area to make way for an Academy. the council is claiming now that this is in the wider public interest, as it will give a better quality of education.

That in fact is totally unfounded - these schools haven't been going long enough to be able to make any meaningful comparison of results, and the one in Middlesbrough was a disaster - worse results than the two schools which closed to form it. I think it may have been put in special measures.

Councils do eaxctly as they wish. They manipulate situations to suit what they want. They don't like being found out, but they have other people's money to burn on top flight barristers etc at public inquiries.

I gather that at the Darwen inquiry the council barrister spent all his time tying people up in knots on their knowledge of Housing Acts.

I also note Prof Clancey felt that the houses were not unfit - and could be repaired for a small sum of a couple of grand at most in grant aid. the council claimed that they would cost ane and a half million, which wouldn't be cost effective.



http://http://www.blackburn.gov.uk/upload/pdf/96.5.6.1.briefing_paper.pdf.

 

[Anonymous]

Not many punches pulled here by Prof Clancy - but I'm sure those responsible will get away with the devastation they have wreaked.


http://http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2006/3/18/889332.html

 

[Anonymous]

Too many http's!

This should work.


http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2006/3/18/889332.html

 

[Anonymous]

Hi all
darwen council funded via grants to repair a block of approx 12 terraced houses on queen street about 10 years ago they spent £43000.00 nothing wrong with them . only two people left in them now, they will be knocked down soon !! so how can they be unfit for habitation ??
The only two streets that have had improvement works schols st and nicholas st . improved by removing roof slates (sold by ?) and lovely new concrete tiles fitted . removing back yard york flagstone (sold by ?) and lovely new concrete flagstones laided. back stone wall removed(sold by ?) replaced with lovely imitation concrete stone. why not reuse??? A general improvement to the area or just pure greed by stripping the past away !! who is getting the £1.50 per slate and £25.00 per sq meter for the flags .

 

[Anonymous]

Can I suggest that you write and ask the council why they are spoiling these heritage buildings and who is making money from the resale of the salvaged items?

Also - ask wo is supervising these 'improvements' who has any knowledge of conservation?

I agree - this council is a shambles!

I'm interested that the Redearth triangle suffers from mining subsidence. Wonder if the proof was shown at the Inquiry? Also the costs of refueb v demolition? When local residents asked about thses they were told that information would be given at the inquiry...

It's clear that the demolitions have nothing at all to do with 'market failure' and all to do with clearance for an Academy. There is of course no proof this will benefit the community in any way, as the council claims.

When Adam at SAVE wrote to the leader of the council about the demolitions the reply was les than helpful.

If you give him a ring at the SAVE office I'm sure he'll be delighted to e-mail you a copy of his written evidence to the Inspector from last week.

Interesting that all involved - council, Government Office for the north West, Elevate East Lancs - all 'forgot' to inform him that the public inquiry was being held last week.


http://www.savebritainsheritage.org