THE battle has raged for 12 years and around 1,000 people have been uprooted and “scattered to the winds”.
Now, it seems, Liverpool’s Welsh Streets are to rise again in a multi-million pound rescue plan.
A Manchester-based housing regeneration operation is poised to move into the Dingle to restore most of the tinned up terraces.
Mayor Joe Anderson is backing the moves, due to go before the city council cabinet next Friday.
The fact that one of the Welsh Street houses – 9 Madryn Street – was the birthplace of Ringo Starr gave the fight an international profile.
What we have seen is a form of social cleansing with families scattered to the four winds, and I can’t see that old community ever being re-created. I hope the city council, Plus Dane Housing and the Housing and Communities Agency sit back and all reflect on what has happened here
Maybe the Ringo factor has not influenced the outcome, but the Beatle’s links with the area helped drag out the conflict for so long.
Last year Eric Pickles, as Secretary of State for Communities, overturned a Liverpool planning inspector’s recommendation to bulldoze the area.
He also scrapped long standing planning and regeneration guidance, calling for large scale demolition, replacing it with an approach that favours retention and refurbishment of older stock.
Under the new scheme, developer PlaceFirst will carry out surveys and investigations before coming a new masterplan and submitting a planning application.
The company has a track record of rescuing other ‘“doomed” communities in the north.
Today heritage campaigners SAVE remained cautious but gave the plan the thumbs up.
Elsewhere, Jonathan Brown of the Merseyside Civic Society, who has been active in the battle of the Welsh Streets from the start, also voiced concerns despite welcoming the move forward.
“If this is approved it will see the houses handed to a single landlord, whereas we wanted to see diversity of tenure in the Welsh Streets, to give local people a stake in their own area,” he said.
“What is clear that after 12 years, and at a cost of £20m during which the area was written off, there has been this turnaround. We have always said with the right approach this wonderful community could be saved.
“What we have seen is a form of social cleansing with families scattered to the four winds, and I can’t see that old community ever being re-created. I hope the city council, Plus Dane Housing and the Homes and Communities Agency sit back and all reflect on what has happened here.
“Many families have been forced out when they wanted to remain, often having to take out mortgages on their new homes.”
The council says it is hoped a significant proportion of the 300 homes can be refurbished, with some knocked “three in to two: to make them larger and appeal to families.
But those in a really poor condition and too costly to repair will be demolished, it says, with the possibility of creating community open space and new properties in their place.
London-based SAVE, however, says it welcomes the moves, but has also called for multiple ownership and no demolition.
“SAVE notes that no other developers are being put forward as candidates for this scheme, despite the fact that many individuals and organisations have shown interest in the site, and continue to do so. However, due to Place First’s positive track record, we are cautiously optimistic,” the group said in a statement.
“The council should be thinking in terms of the long-term future, not short to medium term. To this end, multiple ownerships must be sought, in order to avoid the pitfalls of monopoly landlords imposed in the recent past. In order for a new community to take root and flourish in the long term, mixed tenure would be the most reliable approach, even if it appears more complicated in the short term.”
SAVE also says the direction given by the Secretary of State in his decision, rejecting the previous scheme by the council and Plus Dane must be followed and no demolition should be considered.
It also wants the architectural details of individual houses and streets to be retained and restored.
SAVE Director Clem Cecil said: “Bringing this neighbourhood back is no small task. However, Liverpool has shown itself to be at the forefront of imaginative and groundbreaking ways of bringing empty terraces back into use and we'd like to see that in action here. This is a new era for the Welsh Streets and it is essential that all stakeholders are consulted with including those that have always been against demolition.”
A council spokesman said: “The council’s Cabinet is being asked to approve plans to enter a six month exclusivity agreement with development company PlaceFirst, a specialist development company with a proven track record in converting 19th century housing into high quality homes that meet modern standards whilst retaining their original character and layout.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: “All we have ever done is try to do what the residents have told us and it’s important to remember 80 percent of them backed the original plans for this area. As a result of the prevarication over this scheme from different outside interest groups we have lost a £13 million Government grant.
“However, given that the Government has changed the planning rules we need to find a way forward in order to get this area sorted out as soon as possible and I am pleased we have been able to find a partner that is willing to look into taking on the Welsh Streets.
“The residents of the Welsh Streets have been in limbo for years after the Coalition Government axed the Housing Market Renewal Initiative. To add insult to injury, Eric Pickles then overturned his own planning inspector’s decision on a subsequent scheme despite it being supported by the vast majority of the local community.
“PlaceFirst have a great track record in regenerating old houses and I know they are genuinely excited about what they can do in the Welsh Streets. I want them to crack on with the detailed survey as quickly as possible.”
