Bulldozers poised to roll into street

BULLDOZERS are expected to begin knocking down homes in a clearance area once the new financial year begins.

Around 60 houses in the Parkhouse Street area of Shelton were earmarked for clearance in 2006 and Stoke-on-Trent City Council has since been working to reach agreements with the owners.

All but six houses are now owned by the council and the area has been declared a clearance zone.

It means the council can legally enforce compulsory purchase orders on owners to force them to sell up.

Tahir Mahmood says the work has driven the community apart.

The 29-year-old, who lives in Parkhouse Street, said: "The whole community has been split up. Asian families like to stay close together so we can look after our parents in old age, but people have had no choice but to move.

"A lot of the friends I grew up with have had to move away too."

Farzana Hussain, aged 41, from Clarke Street, who works part-time in a school canteen, said: "It has been so lonely since people started moving out and their houses got boarded up.

"I think the council should have done the houses up and sold them rather than knock them down."

Jameel Ahmed's home in Grove Place is not being demolished, but he has mixed feelings about the regeneration work.

The 28-year-old Vodafone worker, who has lived on the street all his life, said: "I have lots of memories of growing up on the street. It is sad to think most of the people here then have now moved out.

"My street looks horrible now with boarded-up houses. Some of them have been boarded up around a year."

But he added: "If they build nicer homes, it will make the area look better and make other people want to come here."

Streets in the clearance zone are Rectory Road, Argyle Street, Grove Place, Wood Terrace, Clarke Street and Bedford Road.

Properties still to be acquired by the council are in Rectory Road, Wood Terrace and Grove Place.

The demolition of the Victorian terrace homes comes after a study of 181 properties in north Shelton found a number of them to be in a serious state of disrepair.

However, the study also found that some of the properties had a heritage value not found in other parts of the city so it was agreed that only some of the houses would be knocked down.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has now confirmed that demolition work is expected to take place in the new financial year.

Councillor Brian Ward, the council's cabinet member for regeneration, said: "The scheme at Parkhouse Street dates back to the end of 2006 and work is progressing well with the support of residents to clear properties.

"It is necessary to clear such houses to assist the regeneration of our city. The cleared land will be designated for future housing use."