Then and Now 2004 - 2010

It seems incredible that the campaign to stop demolition in Saltwell and Bensham has been running for more than 5 years. In "celebration" lets remind ourselves of the press release issued by Gateshead Council on 27th May 2004.

Their press release was headed "Council Acts to Quash Rumour of 'Demolition Plans'" and continued with the following;

"Rumours being circulated in Bensham and Saltwell suggest that Gateshead Council is intending to demolish whole streets of houses, along with schools, nurseries and shops. None of this is true."

Now in 2010 we can look at the residents worries in perspective. One and half streets have been demolished. The original consultation back in 2005 showed the potential of 1200 homes being bulldozed with the council settling for 440. Shops are closing as residents have been bullied out of their homes by using the fear of ever lower rates of compensation if the council has to use compulsory purchase powers.

Back in 2004 the council said;

John Robinson, Director of Development and Enterprise for Gateshead Council says: “The poster declares that ‘…people across the area have not been told about the plans to demolish whole streets.’

“But it is not true to say that people have to save their homes from demolition. Nor is it true that they have to fight to keep their shops, their schools, their nurseries or their friends and neighbours."

(Well, that bit is true, because there were no plans in the sense of a written document committed to demolition. )

Technically he was right but substantially misleading the public. Plans did not formally exist for demolition but that is what was planned and announced in September 2005. Residents have been fighting since then to preserve their homes and their community.

The original drawings showing 1200 demolitions have never been formally taken off the table and could re-visit the area again.

The council said; "A wide range of options will be outlined and Gateshead Council’s consultants will be keen to hear people’s views on them. Those options could include .... the selective demolition of unwanted houses"

In fact all the demolished homes in the area had residents who wanted to stay, albeit with refurbishment, in their properties. To get people out council officials promised many incentives and suggested that families would get new houses as a kind of swap once new homes were built. These offers were always verbal and the Residents Association always cautioned people not to accept verbal offers but wait for offers in writing - something council officers were desperate to avoid.

The "selective demolition" has now turned into planning applications to demolish whole streets. On average the council has spent an estimated £80,000 per property buying perfectly structurally sound homes in order to demolish them. So far there are no plans to build new homes anywhere but rather to cover the area with grass.

After five years residents can see good things in the area. Primarily the refurnishment and renovation programme. The Residents Association called for this back in 2005 but it has only happened because of the campaign to stop demolition.

So far the Residents Association has saved hundreds of homes from the wreaking ball while in the meantime Gateshead has a massive housing shortage. Surely it is not beyond someone to point out that demolition is last century's dogmatic planning solution that now needs to be abandoned.