Tonight Programme, 8pm, ITV : Govt/housing regeneration stuff. Watch it.

Pobby

r you can look at the post war places they have built where I live. heavily bombed, social housing was a must. 60 years later they are tearing a lot of these concrete jungles down. Some of those terraces, with 24k spent on them, are far better.

carolt

Yes, it' a bit of a no-brainer. If you asked me whther I'd rather live in a nice period terrace esp if renovated, or a modern concrete toweblock, guess which one I (and most people, surely?) would choose?

But the problem is, of course, that those who come up with these stupid ideas would never dream of living in either personally - any more than they'd dream of ironing their own shirts or cleaning their own toilets.

There should be a law that those who come up with these ideas are forced to live in the results, too.

That would sort this nonsense out.

toby3000

carolt wrote: »

Yes, it' a bit of a no-brainer. If you asked me whther I'd rather live in a nice period terrace esp if renovated, or a modern concrete toweblock, guess which one I (and most people, surely?) would choose?

But these aren't nice period houses. I used to live in an area which I think was being 'pathfindered', or if not a very similar scheme. Our street was one of the better ones (and looked a lot better than the one's shown on the show).

The walls were so thin you could hear the neighbours answering the telephone. It was expensive to heat. The bathroom was in a difficult position... in fact, the whole layout was quite iffy. There was no garden and you wouldn't dream of having a family in if it was at all possible. Huge numbers of houses were empty, and that was before any council efforts to evict anyone.

Snooze

PasturesNew wrote: »

Precis - no whinging it's as hard to read as it would be to watch!

<SNIP>

:T Well done PN, and thanks for the transcript, saves me watching it now :j.

It's like our own private TV channel, without the pics. Maybe we could call it PNTV, Pasture News TV (hey did you see what I did there!! :rolleyes:;) ).

These schemes don't work because they don't get to the root of the problem - the people that live in them. Unless some rules are put in place - and enforced - to sort of the scum that make these places the hell holes that they become then nothing will change. All that happens is that they get shipped out to another area to wreak havoc there instead.

I saw this happen in my late teens when I was still living at home in Leeds. We used to live in a council estate off Queenswood Drive in Leeds 6 (the Woodbridge's) and although the flat-top houses were nothing to look at from the outside, the area was actually very sought after by other council tenants and there was hardly ever any trouble. That all changed in the mid 90s when the council decided to 'regenerate' parts of the Hawksworth estate and most of the Argie estate in Kirkstall - both well known trouble spots. All that happened though was a bunch of houses and maisonette blocks were flatened and some new lesser-quality ones knocked up in their place and a fresh bunch of trouble-causers shipped in to full them while the old lot that had been shipped out were rehoused in our decent estate which then became a no-go area just like the other 2. I really don't see the point to it all.

In fact the same thing has happened round Huddersfield where I am now as well. I'm up in Fixby which is a decentish area but this last few years the local council decided to 'regenerate' the hell hole estate known as Brackenhall which is a mile down the road from here. They've flattened the whole area behind Asda and now knocked up a brand new estate of 2-3 bed houses and flats, most of which are still empty 18 months on because - despite the council renaming the estate from Brackenhall to Lower Fixby (it isn't) - people know its history and wouldn't be seen dead living there. All the scum that lived there have been shipped out to Bradley and Deighton estates which are quickly becoming no-go zones.

The council(s) would find it much cheaper just building a 20ft wall round these type of areas and filling them to the brim with water instead. That'd be my plan anyway.

R

Sapphire

Snooze wrote: »

:
The council(s) would find it much cheaper just building a 20ft wall round these type of areas and filling them to the brim with water instead. That'd be my plan anyway.

R

Nice one.

Preferably with the scum still in it, I take it?

lostinrates

Thank you Pastures, you are an absolute star!

Pobby

I really am in favour of keeping the old terrace streets. We live in one in an area of owner occupiers/ private rented and it works well. They are 3 story houses that are easy to expand to 2 extra rooms.

When we came here it was shabby but over the years we have improved it for not a lot of money. New kitchen, windows and general decorating. No garden but an afternoon sun trap courtyard and with very little money they can be very pretty.

Next door is done up in a very modern style and ours is in a cottage style. That works well as we have, in general furniture which is at least 80 years old and also some antique furniture way older. We do like our wood.