Families face fight to save homes from demolition

Nov 2 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

HUNDREDS of families living in one of Britain’s first new towns are battling to save their homes.

Around 200 houses and flats could be demolished on Skelmersdale’s Firbreck and Findon estate as part of a £350m regeneration scheme to breathe new life into the town centre.

The 187 homes are under threat because they are sited on a prime development site in between the town centre and fields, said campaigners.

A 4,200-plus signature petition has just been handed to West Lancashire District Council calling for the homes to be kept as part of any development work.

Last night, the council stressed that no decision had yet been made and the regeneration of the town could go ahead whether houses were demolished or not.

The council is expected to publish a draft masterplan for the area early next year.

It will include plans for a cinema, new shops, restaurants and homes, and a new swimming pool and leisure centre. Developer St Modwen and English Partnerships are working with the council. Campaigners said residents living in Firbreck and Findon have been told that if their homes are demolished, they will offered market value plus 10% or alternative council housing if they are tenants.

But Hazel Scully, who is leading the Firbreck and Findon Campaign Group, said the proposals have devastated the residents who have a “strong community spirit”.

The estate was created as part of slum clearance programmes that saw thousands of people move from Liverpool to Skelmersdale.

The options are to demolish the homes, remodel the estate which could also involve some demolition or refurbish the homes.

davidbartlett