Edge Lane demolition will 'improve Liverpool' claims developer

Jan 15 2008

THE demolition of 370 Victorian houses on Edge Lane will “vastly improve a gateway into the city”, developers said yesterday.

But campaigners trying to block the forced sale of almost 70 of the houses say the scheme will destroy what is left of their community.

The comments came ahead of the opening of an inquiry into compulsory purchase orders (CPO) on the properties today.

Liverpool Land Development Company [LLDC] and national regeneration agency English Partnerships are leading the redevelopment of the Edge Lane corridor in the £350m Edge Lane Project.

Eliot Lewis-Ward, English Partnerships’ Merseyside and Cheshire area director, said the scheme will smarten up Liverpool’s image.

He said: “As well as regenerating this community, this is the main route into Liverpool and first impressions are lasting impressions.

“You hit Edge Lane West and you think, ‘Goodness, where am I – how can this be a major European city?’ “This will vastly improve a gateway into the city.”

Planning permission was granted in September, 2005, for the ageing houses to be cleared and the road widened into an “urban boulevard”.

The scheme would also see 280 new houses built.

English Partnerships issued a CPO for the houses in January, 2005, but that was quashed in the High Court in November, 2006, because of a technicality.

Adderley Street resident Elizabeth Pascoe had formerly challenged the order in court.

She told the Daily Post: “It’s damage to heritage and damage to civil liberties – we are against it on every possible thing you can think of. “Our community is destroyed.”

Ms Pascoe, who was first involved in opposing the plans nine years ago, believes 60 of the 370 houses are still occupied.

A new CPO covering 21.7 acres of land was issued in July last year.

Of the 370 houses in that area, 300 are already owned by Liverpool City Council or are in the process of being transferred to public ownership.

Mr Lewis-Ward said he would not have supported the plans unless most of the community was behind them.

He said: “It’s really building on many years of research and consultation with the community.

“We are trying to deliver what the community have been asking for – a sustainable community with the right quality of facilities. “This is a huge opportunity to really regenerate a very large area which has suffered from dereliction and deprivation for many years.”

Critics of the scheme believe the buildings could be restored and the a new, wider road will encourage more traffic through the area and into the city centre.

The Foresight Centre inquiry is scheduled to last three weeks, after which a report will be drawn up by a planning inspector and passed to Local Government Minister Hazel Blears. Ms Blears is expected to announce her decision by the summer.