Part of a government scheme that will see more than 400,000 buildings demolished in the North and Midlands is to be challenged in the High Court.
Elizabeth Pascoe, a campaigner against deputy prime minister John Prescott’s Pathfinder project, has been granted legal aid to bring the challenge.
Pascoe, who faces the loss of her Victoria home along with hundreds of other homeowners in the Edge Lane area of Liverpool, claims that a compulsory purchase order (CPO) issued by English Partnerships as part of the project is invalid.
She says that no attempt has been made to justify the scheme on the basis that the homes are unfit for human habitation, and that there is no reason why the houses should not be renovated without taking them from existing owner-occupiers.
By 2016, Prescott hopes to remove up to 400,000 empty and derelict homes in towns such as Newcastle, Birmingham, Salford and Sheffield, in a bid to tackle problems in areas with low housing demand and large numbers of vacant properties.
David Waugh, chief executive of the Liverpool Land Development Co, which is running the Edge Lane scheme, said that he was “confident” the CPO would be upheld.
He said that provision had been made in the project timetable for an expedited hearing.
References: EGi News 29/03/06
