Flatten the flats?
Post categories: Flint, Hot Topics, Wrexham
| 11:17 UK time, Thursday, 30 April 2009
Given the choice would you flatten Hightown flats or refurbish the 70s building?
A meeting's being held today to consider the building's future because officials reckon £17m is needed to bring them up to scratch.
There's a similar issue going on in Flint regarding the maisonettes which we've blogged about previously under the headline, love and loathing for home.
There's certainly love for Hightown's flats - and that's backed up by the people interviewed in tonight's Evening Leader.
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When it comes to system built multi-storey social housing, the knee jerk reaction of Joe Public always seems to be “knock it down”, citing various social ills and crimes against aesthetics as justification. Whilst it’s obvious that these developments have problems with crime and anti-social behaviour, is this any worse than in any other council estate? If there aren’t problems with drugs, arson, theft or violence in Caia Park or Plas Madoc, then maybe a new estate of traditional construction will be a cure-all. To think drug addicts will be kicking the habit simply because they’ve moved from a system built “eyesore” to a mock-Georgian shoebox is a little naïve to say the least. I live on a council estate planned by none other than Sir Patrick Abercrombie – it’s built of brick and lined with trees, but it hasn’t stopped houses being broken into, people being attacked, or drug addicts taking residence.
On the subject of appearance, one must bear in mind what was happening throughout the country up until the late 1980s. Vast swages of Victorian buildings were being demolished, rendered by all and sundry as ugly, obsolete and decrepit. Then almost overnight, tastes changed, and there was much lament for what had been lost. It is almost certain that tastes will change again, and when they do, will this estate be considered a loss? Whilst I’m not comparing the architectural relevance of Napier Square or Gatefield to Sheffield’s Park Hill or the Alton Estate in Roehampton, the number of these system-built Bison estates is dwindling. Many were poorly constructed and rightly consigned to a premature wrecking ball, but many others were sound and provide happy homes for their countless residents. It would be short sighted to deny future generations a unique landmark (for Wrexham, at least), simply because of prevailing public opinions about architecture.
I just hope these figures aren’t being fabricated by the council as justification to demolish the complex, whatever their reasoning behind it. You only have to look at what’s become of the town centre over the past fifteen years to see that maybe Wrexham Council don’t know what’s best when it comes to redevelopment and planning. Ultimately, it’s of the upmost importance that the thoughts of the residents should not be dismissed because of a whim of somebody at The Guildhall. People need to consider how they would feel if they were told their home was being demolished, for whatever reason. To say it’s a pretty big deal is not overstating the case in the slightest. As long as the buildings are structurally sound, a bit of imagination and investment can make these estates a very attractive place to live, for current and future residents.
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The alleged £17million cost of repairing these flats is going to be one of the levers used to get a yes vote in the next "sell council houses to a housing association" referendum. There is another one planned, soon!!! This after WCBC neglected this, and other properties so that residents think a housing association is the only way forward. Affordable (council) home residents throughout Britain are regretting the "yes" votes they were conned into agreeing to. BEWARE!!!
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