Residents slam demolition plan (From This Is Lancashire)

Residents slam demolition plan

2:10pm Friday 10th July 2009

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MULTI-MILLION pound plans to regenerate one of Bolton’s most run-down areas would not be needed if Bolton Council had carried out minor repairs, residents have claimed.

Town hall bosses have ordered that properties in Yates Street and Union Road in Tonge Moor be bulldozed and the land used by housing associations for new homes.

But the people living in the houses earmarked for demolition have hit out at the council for allowing the area to go to “rack and ruin”.

The residents say that had Bolton Council carried out lesser work, years ago, there would be no need for the £4.25 million scheme, which will see some of them lose their homes.

Sheila Kearsley, who has lived in Yates Street with her husband Paul for the last 10 years, said: “We have been the subject of so many regeneration schemes, but nothing has ever happened.

“This street is still lovely in summer and it is safe for my grandchildren to play out.

“There are some houses that have brought the area down, but if the council was to buy them and do them up it would cost a lot less then having to knock them down.

“This whole area has gone to rack and ruin.”

Tony Lancaster, who moved into Yates Street in 1963, said: “I have had some great times around here over the years, but in the last decade or so it has got slowly worse.

“We will have to move into a rented property now because there is no way I can get a mortgage again at my age.

“I think it is the right decision, although you do wonder what might have happened if the council had acted earlier.”

Landlord Ali Tetik, who first bought a house in Union Road in 1988, said the houses were structurally sound and wouldn’t cost much to refurbish to a high standard.

He said: “I have seen the result of the council’s refurbishment in other parts of Tonge Moor and they look very nice. Why the council couldn’t do that around here is anybody’s guess.”

Members of Bolton Council’s executive last month approved a scheme that will see 78 properties in Yates Street and Union Road knocked down and 17 properties in neighbouring Tonge Moor Road given face-lifts.

Cllr Nick Peel, the executive member for housing, said: “I don’t think this deterioration has just happened over the last 10 years, I think it is a much wider issue.

“We have been in the lap of the gods when it comes to funding and this is the first time that we have been able to get a definite plan of action together. ”

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