The demolition of most of the Welsh Streets has met with fierce opposition from residents, heritage organisations and environmentalists.

Mistakes of the Sixties Revisited?

By Nina Edge and Ritchie Hunter

Oscar Wilde claimed that a cynic is someone who 'knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing', a description that certainly seems to fit the cynical decision-makers in this city. Liverpool's present is very much built on its past, so it’s criminal that a lot of our heritage is being destroyed in the name of 'regeneration'. When the bulldozers level buildings to the ground a reference point for our memories is lost. Remember the mistakes of the past: the Cavern, Scotty Road, the list goes on.

As New Heartlands, the Merseyside name for the Pathfinder initiatives - which were launched last year by the government - comes on stream, the question is: “Will this be the sixties revisited?”

The Welsh Streets demolition zone adjacent to Princes Park does not take any account of the significant number of sound and lovely homes in the area, but is in fact related to the value of the land on which the houses sit. Listeners to ‘File on 4’(¹) may have already heard about the profit incentive to developers as confirmed by New Heartlands. It is further outlined in the tender documents released to private developers by Liverpool City Council, and in a document titled: ‘Fulfilling The Potential’, on the New Heartlands website.(²)

There are stable communities of residents on this site, who do not share New Heartlands enthusiasm for demolition, and want to remain in their cosy, beautiful heritage homes amongst mature London plane trees, close to their friends and families. This is a place where neighbours enjoy a cup of tea on the step, have grown up together and keep a welcome in the hillside for newcomers.

They have witnessed bullying and coercion in the public consultation events surrounding the plans, and found their voices ignored despite a growing body of expert opinion advising that plans for demolition are a mistake of epic proportions. Misleading information has been circulated in attempts to justify the destruction of this area, which includes Ringo Starr’s birthplace, and the workers’ cottages mentioned in Pevsner’s Architectural Guide to Liverpool. Beatles fans visit Ringo’s house on the Magical Mystery Bus tour, whilst visitors interested in architecture and landscape design visit the site with the Pevsner Guide in hand, taking in Princes Park which was designed by Joseph Paxton, who also designed the Crystal Palace.

These workers’ cottages are a particularly significant asset in Liverpool, whose dual status as 2008 City of Culture and Unesco World Heritage site is already seeing increases in tourism. They were built and lived in by the Welsh workers who built much of the city - from Lime Street Station to landmark buildings on the Pier Head and the Welsh Presbyterian Church on Princes Avenue. They built them well and they built them on good land. With few exceptions they could be renovated for less than the cost of demolishing them.

Residents have been told they will not be forced out of the area, but they may well be priced out by recent increases in land values, coupled with the cost of the new buildings and the developers’ profit margins. The shared equity offers currently tabled would not allow return to the area without access to considerable sums of additional finance for residents, many of whom are pensioners and not able to borrow to buy back onto this site.

Some properties in the area have seen an eightfold increase in their market value in a mere six year period, and claims that public money is being put to good use to rectify housing market collapse, need to be viewed with caution. Interest in housing to buy in Toxteth is keen, as local estate agents have reported. This is an area where Registered Social Landlords or RSLs (Housing Associations) own around 70% of all housing stock. It has been alleged that their failure to repair, maintain or sell vacant property, coupled with their letting policies, have contributed in no small part to the physical and social decline of the district.

Dr Peter Brown of the Liverpool Civic Society told a parliamentary inquiry that ‘The whole enterprise smacks of a conspiracy between the RSLs and local authority to ‘carve up’ the local property market between themselves - with no opportunity for the local community and affected residents to have a say in how the future of ‘their’ area is to be determined. This is quite apart from any consideration of the essentially desirable character of the properties – and the potentially considerable ‘life’ that remains in them.’
These expert opinions add weight to the many local campaigns which have sprung up in the wake of the regeneration bandits.

Along with similar organisations in Liverpool and the North, the Welsh Streets Home Group (WSHG) are seeking refurbishment of properties, retention of green assets, vibrant communities and the many small businesses that thrive in Victorian districts.
It is acknowledged that some houses are beyond repair and in this case they seek quality new build.

Many people locally and nationally have been galvanised into action by the Pathfinder demolitions; local and national media have presented stories of the sadness and frustration that surrounds regeneration gone wrong. Audiences have been astounded by the waste of public funds and apparent lack of scrutiny or accountability on the part of agencies delivering the schemes.

Many have sought to help householders who are subject to increased power of compulsory purchase, available to organisations in the regeneration game. There are many ways in which anyone, anywhere, can help these campaigns.

If you think these Victorian areas have a viable future you might like to join your local action group (they exist in Edge Lane, Lodge Lane, Kensington, Bootle, L1 and in many Pathfinder areas).

There is also an urgent and pressing need for letters of concern and refusal in response to the Liverpool City Council letter of 9th March, regarding the proposal to declare Princes Park as a statutory renewal area, which would facilitate the demolition of dwellings in the Welsh Streets area.

For more information:
Tel: 07891 246014
Write to: WSHG C/O Toxteth Town Hall Community Resource Centre,
15 High Park Street, Toxteth, Liverpool, L8 8DX
Email: welshstreetshomegroupwshg@yahoo.co.uk

¹ Broadcast on Radio 4 - Tue 08 March, 8pm visit: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml#f
² http://www.newheartlands.co.uk