Support from Welsh Street Residents over Demolition
Dear Editor,
We read David Bartlett’s excellent coverage of the recent NAO report on the Pathfinder scheme (Daily Post, Tuesday, Nov.13th). We strongly disagree with Cllr. Munby’s view that because Liverpool’s 45% of the housing stock is (mostly 2 bed) terraces, it should be demolished and new homes built instead to suit people’s needs. Well, we are bringing up a young family in the Welsh Streets Pathfinder area, and are very content to continue to do so in the future. Instead of condemning 2 bedroom terraces to the bulldozers, why not knock two into one and transform them into big family homes, with no extra cost to the environment? Is it because the VAT on demolition is 17,5% (thus not good news for the developers), while new build is zero rated? Or is it because Liverpool City Council, according to the NAO report (p.40), believed prior to the so-called ‘extensive public consultation’ that ‘radical intervention [i.e. demolition] was necessary to address the issues that were found in the Welsh Streets, and that investment in the housing stock [i.e. refurbishment] would not be sufficient to reverse the market failure that existed’? However, in late 2002, 73% of Welsh Streets’ residents were “either satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of their home, while 50% were either satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of housing in the area”. So much for unwanted 2 bedroom houses then! To demolish houses is merely to deal with outward appearances. The heart of so-called ‘housing decline’ in the Welsh Streets, as the NAO says (p.41), is more to do with the lack of cleanliness of the area, the lack of services for young people, ect. The Merseyside Pathfinder should therefore address such issues and leave demolition as a last resort.
We believe the Pathfinder does not deserve the extra £1 billion it was given last month by the government. That decision should be cancelled, and the whole program called in immediately. The Pathfinder desperately needs to take the NAO report’s heavy criticisms seriously before it is too late.
Yours sincerely,
Welsh Streets’ residents
