From our last meeting

Our last meeting at Kelvin Grove School was well attended local residents despite the rain.

Chairman Tony Bone opened the meeting by reading an exchange of letters between the association and Council Leader Mick Henry. In particular the letter from the association advised the council of the Liverpool cour case that prevented demolition going ahead.

The main point of this meeting was to hear about the experiences of local people since the decision to demolish their homes was taken. Groups of 5 were formed to hear from residents what was going on in their area.

Many concerns were raised. Some of them were;

* The failure of the council to keep the residents informed.
* The difference between official documents that gave dates for demolition and the "unofficial" uncertainty expressed by council officers off the record on the phone
* Residents were told that there was no more money in this financial year
* Suggestions by council officials that the phase two scheme, dated 2008, may not result in demolition for up to 5 years
* Uncertainty by residents whether they should do home improvements or whether it was a waste of time.

One resident spoke up and said that a neighbour had been offered £30,000 less for his flat than a similar one sold before the demolition threat.

Several residents were concerned that the council phrase that there was a need for "family homes" was merely a coded phrase for selling the land to the local Jewish community.

People were also shocked that their local councillors didn't seem interested in representing their views.

Bringing back the meeting to a plenary session one resident suggested that we needed a legal opinion to see if residents could defeat the demolition proposals in court. Over £1,000 was initially pledged to set-up a legal fighting fund. Two residents on benefit stepped forward to say that they were prepared to be used as part of a test case. Benefit is key so that legal aid can be claimed.

The meeting ended after an hour on an optomistic note with a clear plan of action.