More Govt Cash For Demolition

Another instantly forgettable Government Minister (John Healey) has announced some £311 million more for Pathfinder projects to create havoc and chaos throughout the north. The controversial scheme has demolished thousands of homes and built a handfull.

Approximately £30 million of this new allocation is expected to arrive on Tyneside with about £12 million spent on Gateshead. In Saltwell and Bensham the effect of buying out homeowners has been an increase in boarded up streets and an increasing feeling of isolation for those left behind. In the "so called" Pathfinder "managed" areas little is spent to improve the neighbourhood. Despite unreadable street signs, increased street litter and dog excrement on the pavements the emphasis is on demolition.

Gateshead Council have now become aware that millionaire developers, despite the help of pathfinder, are still finding it difficult to make large profits from housing. So the most recent attempt to circumvent economic reality is a New Labour favourite - private public partnership. In this case the Council is to form a Joint Venture Company with the private sector. So we have moved from a position of expecting the private sector to fund redevelopment to having to partner with them. Residents were promised £750 million in private sector money flooding into Saltwell and Bensham whereas the truth is that the Council is goimg to have to prop-up the private developers.

The political effects of the scheme have also been massive. In Newcastle the former Labour Council grasped pathfinder money quickly and added this to an already established "slash and burn" policy for thr city. The result was they demolished their own voters homes and have been out of power for 5 years. Right now the Parliamentary seats of Newcastle East and Newcastle North have been made marginal due to the work of Pathfinder.

The worst news for Labour is that many marginal Lancashire seats have had their Labour voting hearts destroyed by Pathfinder. Up to 12 Parliamentary Seats are in areas blighted by mass demolition.

With the Conservative Party committed to abolishing Pathfinder nonsense and heading for a 100 seat majority this may well be the last gasp of funding for the mis-management of housing investment over the last 10 years.

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Meeting The Shopkeepers

At the outset of Gateshead Council's mass demolition programme the Residents Association cried foul on behalf of the shopkeepers. The shops on Saltwell Road are at the heart of an economic system of local trade. We pointed out that demolition removes the customers on which local traders depend.

Despite this warning Gateshead's dedicated demolition team have made every effort to force local people out of their homes with money and threats of compulsory purchase. The shopkeepers have experienced a dramatic downturn and they arrived in force to meet the demolition team from Gateshead Council at a local school.

Gateshead's demolition team explained that they had "millions" to spend on demolition but nothing for shops. Pathfinder didn't help local shops - despite the fact that shops are part of a vibrant effective community. Shop owners wanted help with rate relief due to the decline in the area. Gateshead Council said that they only collected rates for the Government and couldn't help.

Gateshead's officers did say they could help with business consultants. One shopkeeper said he had received a visit from the consultants. They had concluded that there were too few customers because of demolition.

Deborah McKenna, one of Gateshead Council's leading advocates for demolition, suggested that the shops needed a slogan to attract new customers. A suggestion immediately came from the crowd; how about "Been in business 40 years - closing soon". Maybe this stretched Deborah's sense of humour too far as she failed to appreciate the irony.

Complaints were made about the "compound". This is now the new name for the portion of Armstrong Street that is now being used as a dumping ground for building materials. The fact that this causes clouds of dust and debris in the air was dismissed by the officials because this was being resolved by the presence of a street sweeper every day. (We just hope he wears an industrial strength gas mask).

Gateshead Council official big announcement was that any demolition areas would be covered by grass for at least 2 years and that they hoped to build family homes in 2012. The outraged businessmen of Saltwell Road had no faith any of them would still have businesses by 2012!

Local councillors were invited to speak to the local businesses but none bothered to turn up. There is little they could say on behalf of their constituents as they all support mass demolition.

Meanwhile as a Residents Association we know the importance of small businesses in our community. We try to encourage our members to shop locally and support local business. However trying to support the business community while Gateshead Council is demolishing their customers' homes is incredibly difficult.