Village Green Status Bid to Protect Clubmoor Rec ON July 17, leading members of the Caucus residents' association, along with Liberal Party leader Cllr Steve Radford, lodged a formal application at both Liverpool magistrates court,and city council to have Clubmoor Rec awarded village green status. The city council will now be obliged to publish a notice, which includes a statutory period for objections. Pat and Georgina have been determined to stop the ongoing encroachment of the recreation ground, which has occurred under both Labour and Lib Dem councils. Pat has lived in the area for 60 years and is very nervous of the way the council has abandoned Stanley Park. By obtaining village green status, residents can deter further encroachment on to this beautiful green open space from developers and land grabbers.

Day of destiny for old streets Jun 14 2006 By Nick Coligan Political Reporter, Liverpool Echo   THREE of Liverpool's oldest communities face D-day at a crucial meeting to decide the fate of thousands of terraced homes. Councillors will tour Anfield, Edge Hill and Waver-tree tomorrow, before the future of dozens of Victorian streets is decided. The three separate schemes are all part of regeneration company New Heartlands' multi-million pound vision for Merseyside's housing. If given the go-ahead, they will mean: * The demolition of 1,800 homes around Anfield stadium, to be replaced with 1,300 homes, shops, offices and community facilities.     * The bulldozing of 640 properties to the south of Edge Lane, Edge Hill, where about 300 new homes and shops will be built.   * The replacement of 525 terraces off Smithdown Road and Earle Road, Wavertree, with up to 450 new two- and three-storey homes.

Housing experts say the three communities have come to the end of their useful lives and need to be replaced with modern homes to get the property market back on its feet. Many residents are happy to leave with the promise of being helped into a new property in the near future. But others are campaigning to stay and have the terraces refurbished to 21st-century standards instead. Liverpool council's planning committee will have the final say. Liberal councillor Steve Radford, who opposes demolition, said: "These plans will simply add to the city's housing problems by deliberately making areas derelict. "Organ-isations like English Heritage have real concerns about the quality of new housing."   Councillors are also set to give the go-ahead to plans for more than 70 homes on the former site of St Thomas a Becket school, off Spekeland Road, Edge Hill. I want to go NOW KAREN Williams is ready to move out of her Anfield home as soon as she gets the green light. She rents her two-bedroom terrace in Vienna Street from a housing association and is waiting for another one to become available in a different area before leaving. Karen, who has a seven-year-old son, Joseph, said: "My house definitely needs work doing on it - the bathroom has got damp, for example. "I am happy to go and not come back, but Iwould like ahouse with a garden this time. "This is not a very pleasant area to live in now, because kids keep getting into empty houses and setting fires."   Leave our community alone   MAXINE Liu has lived off Smithdown Road for more than 30 years - and she has no intention of going anywhere yet.   Maxine, of Tunstall Street, Wavertree, is a member of Smithdown Against Demolition, a new group set up to fight demolition plans.   She said: "First and fore-most, it will break up the community. People around here are always there if you need them.   "We are told we can move back into the area where we were born and bred, but we are worried that we will not be able to afford it. New properties are often expensive, especially for first-time buyers. A lot of people would benefit more if properties were modernised."

HOUSING officials need £135m from the government before 20,000 council homes can be transferred to a new landlord.

Without it, the entire transfer, which will lead to millions of pound of improvements to council houses, could fail.

Liverpool council will start talks with ministers tomorrow in the hope of getting hold of the money within the next few weeks.

Council officials today said they were confident they would get the money and hand over all their properties to new housing association Liverpool Mutual Homes (LMH).

But some councillors fear ministers will be put off by a series of problems blighting LMH.

Wavertree Labour MP Jane Kennedy has asked the government to investigate the recent walk-out of three senior managers.

The council will pay the £135m to LMH as a "dowry" so it can start paying for improvements suchas new kitchens, windows and central heating. LMH will then borrow the rest of the money it needs to bring homes up to 21st century standards.

Without the dowry, LMH might struggle to obtain the other money because the standard of Liverpool's council housing is so poor and low-value.

Housing officer Rob Farnos said: "The government has a pot of money for councils in our position, so we can give a dowry to the new landlord.

"We need that money to make the transfer happen. If it does not stack up financially, there is no point proceeding. These are crucial talks.

"The government obviously wants it to work, but wants to make sure it is happy with all the arrangements.

"We have asked for the amount that we think we need."

But Cllr Steve Munby, Labour opposition spokesman on regeneration, said the government "will need convincing" that the handover is going smoothly.

"LMH is still at an early stage, but clearly things are going wrong if senior staff are packing their bags.

"The government is prepared to put huge amounts of money into Liverpool's housing, but will want to hear astrong case before agreeing to this much."

Liberal Cllr Steve Radford added: "This money is desperately needed so a deal can be offered to tenants that they feel secure about."

Council tenants will vote in September whether they want the handover to happen.

The last Anfield battle

Jun 7 2006

Daily Post

CAMPAIGNERS fighting against Liverpool FC's plans to build a new stadium at Stanley Park have got one final chance to formally object. More than 10,000 leaflets are being handed out across the city by Liberal councillors warning residents about potential traffic chaos that could be caused by the new ground. They claim residents' parking schemes and park and ride schemes have not been drawn up to cope with the extra match day traffic. The flyers also question why the city council has refused to say how much the land being gifted to a new joint venture company involving the city council and the club is worth.   The plan to dispose of the land needed for the ground was "called in" by the environment scrutiny panel and objections must now be sent to the council by June 20.   Liberal Party leader Cllr Steve Radford said: "We are sending out 10,000 leaflets and want people to fill in the forms and send them to the council before it is too late."   The Stanley Park plans have proved contentious because the stadium will take up part of the green space occupied by the Victorian park.   But work has still not started on the stadium amid rumours the club is struggling to raise the money to pay for what has now become a £190m project.