Liverpool Greens have laid out their opposition to the proposed ‘development’ of the Welsh Streets area near Princes Park. The Mayor’s plan is to demolish over 400 solid Victorian houses and replace them with only around 300 new build dwellings.

Liverpool Green Party has taken the position over a number of years that refurbishment of the houses in the Welsh Streets is preferable to demolition and new build. The previous Labour government’s doomed Pathfinder scheme has decimated communities in Liverpool and around the country. It is regrettable that as a city and a country we find ourselves with a housing crisis while thousands of high density houses lie empty.

Liverpool Green Councillors have called out inconsistencies between the demand of Liverpool’s housing needs and the Welsh Streets development proposals. Thousands of Liverpool’s poorest residents will be hit be the government’s cruel ‘Bedroom Tax’ because there are not enough one bedroomed social houses in Liverpool. Yet Plus Dane, who are commissioning the new Welsh Streets development have not included a single one bedroom property. For Plus Dane to pursue their tenants for the bedroom tax without building any alternative accommodation is morally reprehensible.

The cost of the demolition of the sturdy Victorian houses has been estimated to be as shockingly high as £6-8million. [1] This cost would be the same as restoring Princes Park twice over or keeping open the ten libraries facing closure. Liverpool Greens criticise the Mayor’s warped priorities here. Instead of forking out millions for demolition, the Mayor could extend the ‘Homes for £1′ scheme, which would tackle the housing crisis in Liverpool while saving the Council millions of pounds.

[1] ‘Estimated value excluding VAT: Range: between 6 000 000 and 8 000 000 GBP’ http://www.publictenders.net/node/2033660%29