Dear Sirs,
We have been following closely the articles and letters about the future of the Western estate. Some have contained facts and relevant information. However, unfortunately some have been misrepresentative, misleading and upsetting for many residents. For these reasons we want to put the record straight.
The regeneration of Western has been on our radar since 2014. This is because day-in-day-out, as the main housing provider on the estate we deal with reported problems and do all we can to maintain and improve the estate for people living there. It remains our ambition to address these problems through regeneration based on strong community support through consultation.
At the beginning of the consultation we asked residents what the estate is known as and those who engaged – including Mr Chandran who originally volunteered to be a community champion for the project – told us it is known locally as Western. This name is also used officially for street signage and building names and has been for many years.
In terms of the five questions that Mr Chandran has stated publicly that “Livin needs to answer” and which he claims came from his “visits,” these are not questions we have come across when discussing the facts with over 200 residents so far. Nonetheless we are happy to respond as follows:
Question 1 Who were the Private Sector Partners in 2014?
In 2014 we considered the viability of regenerating Western with private sector partners on an informal basis. This was to establish possible options for redevelopment and associated costs. At this time regeneration was deemed not possible because of a funding gap of £15million. However, should regeneration progress following the current consultation. private sector partners may or may not be required. At this point in time no private sector partners are involved.
Question 2 Why Private Sector Partners?
Answered above.
Question 3 Who at County Council have they agreed with in 2014 to demolition and rebuild? Our County Councillors have been deafeningly silent !
Livin has not agreed to carry out demolition and rebuild with Durham County Council, any of its officers or any of its Councillors.
Question 4 Livin misled their Volunteers and Champions and Residents pretending there were 3 Options when 4 years earlier, secretly, behind the scenes with Durham County Council they had only one Option.
This is not a question, it is an allegation that is completely incorrect. Livin has, over the last 12 months and throughout the process of engaging with this community, been very open and clear about the options for the estate. There is more than one option, albeit we know, from what residents have told us, that Option 3 is the only option that would fully address their concerns. In recent weeks and in line with the community engagement plan we have stepped up the consultation and spoken to hundreds of people. We will continue this until we have contacted as many local stakeholders as possible to determine their preferences.
As we have said throughout, we will only progress to masterplanning with strong community support. If that support is achieved this means the community will have the opportunity to work with us to develop a plan to show how the estate could look. Alongside this we will develop a Residents’ Charter that will set out Livin’s commitments to all residents together with opportunities and arrangements for protecting residents’ interests. But there is significant investment needed if regeneration is to go ahead and this has not been secured. We will not seek to secure investment without strong community support.
Question 5 Why was Garburn Place not included in the Scheme?
The reason Garburn Place has not been included is that from our management of the area and based on the data we hold it is clear that it does not experience the same issues as the Western estate. However, if Mr Chandran, GARA, the Town Council or indeed any residents from Garburn Place feel differently we would of course be open to listen to their concerns and look to consider it as part of the overall regeneration project.
Ultimately, it is the people directly affected by the proposed regeneration who will decide the future of the estate – not Livin. This is why we are urging everyone to get in touch and state their preference.
As mentioned earlier, we are becomingly increasingly concerned that misleading information is being circulated and we urge residents to take a position based on the facts and what is best for the future of the estate and generations to come.
We have recently become aware that residents of the estate have been incorrectly informed by sources other than Livin that if they support Option 3 and move off the estate they will not have a right to move back and there is a chance they will be moved to other localities some distance away. This is completely untrue and we are very concerned that this misinformation is causing distress. We wish to reassure residents that, should the project go ahead and in the event that residents have to move off the estate temporarily whilst work is being done, all homeowners, Livin tenants and private landlords would have the option to return to the estate. We have been asked this question previously and the factual answer can be found on our frequently asked questions sheet handed out during our home visits and is also available on our Western website.
We are also aware of Mr Chandran’s petition against the project. We would like to stress that the decision as to whether the project moves to the next phase, will only be based on the preferences stated by residents and collected by Livin over several months of engagement. We are doing this to ensure all residents’ voices are heard, not just the loudest, and that they make their choices based on the facts.
We are urging residents who might be concerned about having stated their preference based on misinformation provided by sources other than Livin to contact us. We are still consulting and we are determined to ensure the residents of this estate are fully informed with the facts in making their decision.
At Livin we care passionately about this community and believe that regeneration of the Western estate would provide a wonderful opportunity to help address the problems that many residents have to deal with every day. If you also care about this community please get in touch and make your views count.
Alan Boddy
Director of Operations
