Councillor and residents plead for estate refurb

7:00am Monday 15th October 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Chris Tate, T&A Reporter

Coun Malcolm Sykes near some boarded-up homes in Allerton Coun Malcolm Sykes near some boarded-up homes in Allerton

Campaigners have demanded that boarded-up homes on a Bradford estate should be brought back to life instead of houses being built on green-field sites.

Councillor Malcolm Skyes says the empty properties in Allerton need to be knocked down or improved to prevent developers covering the green belt – such as the nearby Pitty Beck site – with new estates.

When the Telegraph & Argus visited the area we found dozens of empty properties in Bracewell Avenue and ‘The Walks’. Some rows were harder hit than others, with 16 of the 24 flats in Barkston Walk and seven of the 12 flats in Beecroft Walk boarded up.

A further seven of 24 flats in Coxwold Walk, four of 12 in Bentcliff Walk and seven of 20 in Lindholme Gardens all had metal shutters in place.

Ten flats, meanwhile, were bordered up in Bracewell Avenue itself.

One resident who has lived on the estate for 30 years, Kath Hardaker, 71, spoke of her heartbreak at the sight of dozens of aluminium-shuttered flats and houses in the area.

Social housing landlord Incommunities, which owns housing stock in the area, said it was currently carrying out an “options appraisal” of properties on ‘The Walks’ and Bracewell Avenue.

Coun Sykes (Con, Thornton and Allerton) has been battling ongoing plans for 292 homes on the Pitty Beck green-field site off nearby Allerton Lane which gained approval from Bradford Council’s regulatory and appeals committee in controversial circumstances last week. Coun Sykes, who has vowed the campaign to stop the Pitty Beck developmemnt is not over, said of the empty homes: “I hope they will be able to do something fast, whether it’s knock them down and start again, or refurbish them to give them some new life.

“The area has become a big eyesore. Every other house is boarded up.

“I think it’s a shame when we’re fighting hard to prevent developments on green-belt land. These are the sorts of sites that need to be used first.”

Last month the Telegraph & Argus reported how Bradford has been hailed a top performer in a national scheme to bring empty council homes back into use after figures revealed that nearly 2,000 abandoned properties across the district have been brought back to life Mrs Hardaker said similar action was needed on her estate.

“It’s a scandal and it’s so sad to see all those boarded-up places,” she said.

“I know many of them have had problem families and are probably wrecked inside, but restoring them has surely got to be a cheaper and better idea than building new estates on open spaces.

“It would just be so good for the area if something could be done to bring them back to life.”

A spokesman for Incommunities said: “We will be carrying out a consultation with existing tenants living in the area to help ensure we fully meet their housing needs.”

Comments(16)

mad matt says...
7:47am Mon 15 Oct 12

I had to visit a friend on the estate a couple of weeks ago and I just couldn't believe the number of homes that were boarded up.
These are solid built housing stock and if the high crime rate in the area can be brought under control, people will be more than happy to live there.
We have a serious national housing shortage, what are Incommunities playing at? They need to get theit act together FAST!

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ertnec says...
10:06am Mon 15 Oct 12

Unfortunately people don't want flats any more especially in blocks. It's about time all agencies worked together to sort empty properties out. In a lot of cases the Housing groups have there hands tied and not the money to address these problem's but at the end of the day there own them so it's in there hands. Please remove these properties and let the companies build NEW on the sites. The properties around only have a certain life span and I'm sure its past. DO SOMETHING NOW before we have NEW estates Built on green belt land. I do agree with more homes but come on and sort it.

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webess says...
10:23am Mon 15 Oct 12

So I've a choice between living in a new build detached house in a pleasant area or a boarded up house on a council estate?

Let me think for a minute....

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collos25 says...
10:37am Mon 15 Oct 12

There is a bit more to it than that like cost and social income its the people who rubbish any property whether it be flats or detached houses if proper control was exercised on the properties then the problems would not be so great.

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Qasim Khan says...
10:57am Mon 15 Oct 12

I am sure these properties are far better than the back to backs in Girlington and other inner city areas which have been renovated by the council at a huge expense. There are plenty of brown sites and boarded up properties in Bradford which should be developed and refurbished rather than building on green belt.

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Qasim Khan says...
10:57am Mon 15 Oct 12

I am sure these properties are far better than the back to backs in Girlington and other inner city areas which have been renovated by the council at a huge expense. There are plenty of brown sites and boarded up properties in Bradford which should be developed and refurbished rather than building on green belt.

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Qasim Khan says...
10:57am Mon 15 Oct 12

I am sure these properties are far better than the back to backs in Girlington and other inner city areas which have been renovated by the council at a huge expense. There are plenty of brown sites and boarded up properties in Bradford which should be developed and refurbished rather than building on green belt.

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A Casual Observer says...
11:42am Mon 15 Oct 12

There'll be many more empty homes after next April when changes to Welfare kick in. Many people will be forced on to the streets.

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Cooperlane2 says...
1:18pm Mon 15 Oct 12

In Wyke the council have been converting smaller units into larger family homes as part of general refurbishment. Though if it is a high crime area, properties get thieved from as they are modernised.

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Pity poor Bfd! says...
1:25pm Mon 15 Oct 12

Sadly, it won't be social housing being build on the site though will it? - it'll be those pale insipid Yorkshire stone clad 'executive' houses which have all the charm of a municipal loo!

If the Council go ahead and don't change their decision about this planning permission, it will be an act of wilful vandalism which will hopefully haunt every member of the committees thoughts 'til the end of their days.

Last week’s report that they had 'no choice' - how ludicrous, how lamentable that we've entrusted these dullards to vouchsafe our environment and our future.

If this short sighted bunch widened their horizons they'd find the vast Woolcombers site not a million miles away and plenty more Brownfield sites crying out for development. Housing in areas such as this would enhance and enable communities to develop & grow, not just line some fat cat’s pockets and grease some palms!

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A Casual Observer says...
1:30pm Mon 15 Oct 12

Cooperlane2 wrote:
In Wyke the council have been converting smaller units into larger family homes as part of general refurbishment. Though if it is a high crime area, properties get thieved from as they are modernised.
In other areas they'll have to convert them the opposite way as there is a huge demand for smaller accommodation due to the Tory's Bedroom Tax. And combined with cuts to Benefits this will mean many people will be forced out of their homes by next April. It'll be chaos.

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jozieme says...
1:57pm Mon 15 Oct 12

Surely all these properties belong to the Tax paying public of Bradford,and are for 'rent' rather than to purchase.This council has given up on these properties for a long time and they need to be renovated and offered to tennants.
Councillor Sykes is doing his level best to try and preserve the green fields of Allerton, and seems to be the only one on this council who gives a **** ... IF I were a prospective buyer of any properties being built in this lovely proposed green belt area ,would i want to spend the kind of money they would be asking with a housing estate of so many boarded up houses so close by? I don't think so.!.Its unfair for the tennants and owners who already live there to see how totally uncared for are these streets of properties. in Allerton .Lets have some council response to Mr Sykes Show their true colours..

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collos25 says...
3:35pm Mon 15 Oct 12

As far as I understand it they were sold of on the cheap to a thieving .management company

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A Casual Observer says...
4:36pm Mon 15 Oct 12

webess wrote:
So I've a choice between living in a new build detached house in a pleasant area or a boarded up house on a council estate?

Let me think for a minute....
In a *once* pleasant area. There'll be nothing "pleasant" about Pitty Beck if houses are built on it.

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A Casual Observer says...
4:40pm Mon 15 Oct 12

mad matt wrote:
I had to visit a friend on the estate a couple of weeks ago and I just couldn't believe the number of homes that were boarded up.
These are solid built housing stock and if the high crime rate in the area can be brought under control, people will be more than happy to live there.
We have a serious national housing shortage, what are Incommunities playing at? They need to get theit act together FAST!
"....if the high crime rate in the area can be brought under control..."

That's a big IF !

With the Tories cutting Police there's no chance of maintaining any law & order anywhere in Bradford. There's little chance now, but with less cops? We need at least ten times more coppers than we have now, and they need to better prioritize their work load, spend less time persecuting harmless cannabis users and catch some real criminals instead.

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collos25 says...
7:16pm Mon 15 Oct 12

Who are the real criminals those selling cannabis or those smuggling into the country by the ton to sell to weak willed people the profits used to fund other illegal ventures no they are part of the criminal fraternity all of them.
The main problem is to many people not enough of anything for them have you ever been to Karachi to see how the population lives it won't be long before many cities in the UK are the same.

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