200 homes in Whitehaven to be bulldozed
Last updated 13:31, Friday, 02 May 2008
RESIDENTS on a Whitehaven estate have welcomed plans to demolish more than 200 homes – a third of their estate.
Copeland Homes plan to demolish 210 of the 554 properties they own on the Woodhouse estate.
They will be replacing them with 50 houses, bungalows and green open spaces, which means a net loss of about 160 homes.
The development, called Woodhouse Evolution, started in December with the demolition of 54 one-bedroom flats on Wastwater Road. It will be followed by the demolition of houses on Fell View Avenue and Windermere Road later this year subject to planning permission.
Yesterday residents were invited to an exhibition at St Peter’s Hall to discuss the new plans.
All the residents the News & Star spoke to said they could not wait to have the estate cleared up.
Mary Barbour, 53, has lived on the same street for 26 years, but is looking forward to moving.
She said: “I think it’s a good idea. The houses are out of date. I don’t want to move away from Woodhouse because all my family live here. I would miss living here.
“People get along. But you have got to move with the times. If you can move with your neighbours then it is even better.
“I will be disappointed now if it doesn’t go ahead.
“It is not a bad area, but this should improve it. Police regularly patrol the area, but it is better than it used to be.”
Diane Phillips, 25, has lived on the street for six years. She said: “I think it is a great idea. It will make it a nicer place to live. It is untidy now.
“I would like to have another house on the estate. The new houses will probably attract a lot of older people rather than trouble makers.
“It will be safer and children will be able to play in their own gardens without their parents worrying about them. Knocking a few houses down will make a lot of difference.”
Dale Lewthwaite, who has lived on Fell View Avenue for six months, said: “As long as we get rehoused I don’t mind. We have been told we should be able to get a house in the area that we want so I don’t mind moving.”
Andy Thompson, project director of Home North West, said at the exhibition: “We want to make Woodhouse a home for life.
“There are only 10 bungalows here now.
“We hope to have another 30 with options to buy and rent.
“There will be additional four and three bedroom houses too.
“The residents said they wanted it to be affordable. People are loyal to Woodhouse and most want to stay here.
“First priority for the houses will go to people on the estate.
“We want something that blends with other houses and evolves.
“So we have called this the Woodhouse Evolution. We want to bring back railings which were an original feature on the estate.
“There is a low demand for one bedroom flats now.
“There will be less houses but they will be better.
“They will be better quality and in better condition. Woodhouse will be more sustainable.
“We had a consultation on Wednesday. We want people to tell us what they want.
“The next stage is to take the information back, make changes and go back to the people. We will start talking to people in June, having a detailed consultation, and start applying for planning permission.
“We hope to start work next May. And we expect to finish in five years.”
the same thing is going to happen to me in cleator moor ive just brought my house spent every penny we had doing it up let alone all the money we had to buy the house you think something somewhere would have shown up on the paper work its a disgrace and i hope they give us back all our money and more to buy another 4 bed house somewhere else
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To News and Star
You would have had a more informative report, if you had been on the scene on Wednesday 30th April and Thursday 1st May when there was quite a few irate residents complaining about Copeland Homes new development.Judging by the proposed plan that we were supplied with I would say that this was on the cards when the estate was purchased from Copeland Housing. As to your statement of 210 of the 554 proprties they own are to be demolished about 20% are now owned on the right to buy basis and they don't want a third attempt to improve the estate. I am one of those owners and they say an English man's home is his castle so lets leave it that way.
I am not digging my head in the sand we do need to move with the times,but with discussions and cooperation of the residents, these houses were built to last, made with Whitehaven bricks and will outlast any modern construction, surely upgrading and modernisation woud be suffice
Posted by Robert Goulding on 5 May 2008 kl. 09:12