Some of the residents living in the 440 homes in Gateshead's "demolition zone" thought they had a late change of mind when letters came from Gateshead Council announcing that their home would be subject to renovation funds in order to comply with the decent homes standard.
After two years of campaigning, a flawed consultation and a huge waste of taxpayers money could the officers of Gateshead Council have come to a collective change of mind and a large dose of common sense. The decent homes standard is a minimum standard all homes are supposed to reach by 2010 with the government providing funding for grants and renovation projects.
So the cloud of demolition had been lifted.....
This lasted a day. The next morning letters arrived saying sorry but your homes don't qualify for the decent homes standard as we are going to demolish them sometime in the future.
Apart from the obvious humour that one part of Gateshead Council hasn't a clue about what the other half is doing there is a more disturbing and sinister pattern. The fact is that fear, uncertainty, and doubt have become weapons in Gateshead Council's psychological war on it's own taxpayers. There is a pattern of attacking the resilience of the community in order to provoke "voluntary" sales to the council.
The tactic seems to be that while people are uncertain they will fear the worst. As we know from the fear of crime, fear itself is a potent weapon. Losing your home is one of the worst things that can happen which is why Gateshead Council's tactics are either extreme cock-up or the most cynical psychological warfare.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Nexus censors Residents Association Poster
In order to highlight the plight of 440 hard working families facing Gateshead Council's demolition plans the Saltwell and Bensham Residents Association produced a poster. The poster appeared for a short time at Gateshead Metro Station.
The poster was political, in its widest sense, and had a nightmare vision of the character of the area destroyed by needless demolition.
However last Friday the poster was removed without warning on the orders of Nexus, the tyneside transport authority. We understand that the Nexus Chief Executive personally emailed the advertising sales department to have it removed.
Many of us are used to the attack on freedom of speech in China, North Korea, Burma and other dictatorships. Few of us imagined that the battle for freedom of speech also has to be taken to the streets of Tyneside. The poster made no mention of Nexus or the transport authority. The only slogan was "No to Demolition in Saltwell and Bensham". Yet this expression of a community's angst was banned by the unaccountable bureaucratic men in grey suits who are actually paid by public funds. No wonder civil liberties are under threat in Britain.
Of course the criticism in the poster was addressed to Gateshead Council. Gateshead contributes £11.5 million to Nexus every year in subsidy. Having a large advert criticising Gateshead Council policy in the Gateshead Metro may well have unsettled the grey men in the Civic Centre. It is hardly rocket science to guess who was behind the politically motivated banning order.
Most of the pathfinder process is carried out in secret. There is the secretive committee called BridgingNewcastleGateshead that hands out the cash for the government. It is so secret that it requires a Freedom of Information request just to get your hands on the carefully obtuse minutes of meetings. Then there is the secretive process inside Gateshead Council that nominates some poor area for demolition. Finally there is the unaccountable consultants paid to create surveys whose result is already pre-determined to be demolition. Rarely have citizens found themselves both battling to save their homes as well as saving the very freedoms we are supposed to have in a democracy.
The poster was political, in its widest sense, and had a nightmare vision of the character of the area destroyed by needless demolition.
However last Friday the poster was removed without warning on the orders of Nexus, the tyneside transport authority. We understand that the Nexus Chief Executive personally emailed the advertising sales department to have it removed.
Many of us are used to the attack on freedom of speech in China, North Korea, Burma and other dictatorships. Few of us imagined that the battle for freedom of speech also has to be taken to the streets of Tyneside. The poster made no mention of Nexus or the transport authority. The only slogan was "No to Demolition in Saltwell and Bensham". Yet this expression of a community's angst was banned by the unaccountable bureaucratic men in grey suits who are actually paid by public funds. No wonder civil liberties are under threat in Britain.
Of course the criticism in the poster was addressed to Gateshead Council. Gateshead contributes £11.5 million to Nexus every year in subsidy. Having a large advert criticising Gateshead Council policy in the Gateshead Metro may well have unsettled the grey men in the Civic Centre. It is hardly rocket science to guess who was behind the politically motivated banning order.
Most of the pathfinder process is carried out in secret. There is the secretive committee called BridgingNewcastleGateshead that hands out the cash for the government. It is so secret that it requires a Freedom of Information request just to get your hands on the carefully obtuse minutes of meetings. Then there is the secretive process inside Gateshead Council that nominates some poor area for demolition. Finally there is the unaccountable consultants paid to create surveys whose result is already pre-determined to be demolition. Rarely have citizens found themselves both battling to save their homes as well as saving the very freedoms we are supposed to have in a democracy.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Poster Campaign By Residents Association
This week Saltwell and Bensham Residents Association began it's summer awareness campaign about the proposed demolition of 440 homes in central Gateshead.
Right now it's only one poster and only in Gateshead Metro Station. However it's a big poster. The poster features a nightmare vision of the future in which demolition is followed by the building of tiny matchbox houses that cost twice or three times as much as existing property.
The idea behind the poster was to boost awareness of the campaign to local people. Some people still dont know about the demolition threat and have been reassured by the council weasel words on re-development.
We will be shortly sorting out a link so you can see the poster yourself.
Right now it's only one poster and only in Gateshead Metro Station. However it's a big poster. The poster features a nightmare vision of the future in which demolition is followed by the building of tiny matchbox houses that cost twice or three times as much as existing property.
The idea behind the poster was to boost awareness of the campaign to local people. Some people still dont know about the demolition threat and have been reassured by the council weasel words on re-development.
We will be shortly sorting out a link so you can see the poster yourself.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
No Change - Our Exclusive Election Analysis
No change. After the votes were cast and counted Gateshead remained the same. Labour.
The councillors that were elected didn't campaign on demolition or make the case for it. So no change there. The word demolition was once again absent from the leaflets. The usual alternative words were used: "housing renewal" and "pathfinder" without a word about people losing their homes.
The Residents Association is non-party political. We don't campaign for any party but we do campaign. We object to spending £40 million of taxpayers cash on demolishing homes and moving out hard working local families. We object to the millionaire property developers making huge profits out of a system that is claimed to be about renovation and communities. We object to the judgmental approach of the consultants whose job was partial and flawed.
The electorate voted based on what the parties deliver on the doorstep. If the parties refuse to discuss demolition then it is hardly surprising elections don't reflect the issue. Based on the issues presented by the parties then "no change" is the correct result. However when the bulldozers move in it may become more difficult to keep demolition a secret from the voters.
The councillors that were elected didn't campaign on demolition or make the case for it. So no change there. The word demolition was once again absent from the leaflets. The usual alternative words were used: "housing renewal" and "pathfinder" without a word about people losing their homes.
The Residents Association is non-party political. We don't campaign for any party but we do campaign. We object to spending £40 million of taxpayers cash on demolishing homes and moving out hard working local families. We object to the millionaire property developers making huge profits out of a system that is claimed to be about renovation and communities. We object to the judgmental approach of the consultants whose job was partial and flawed.
The electorate voted based on what the parties deliver on the doorstep. If the parties refuse to discuss demolition then it is hardly surprising elections don't reflect the issue. Based on the issues presented by the parties then "no change" is the correct result. However when the bulldozers move in it may become more difficult to keep demolition a secret from the voters.
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