How to take control of your community and keep it! Dr Colin Stuhlfelder Senior Lecturer in the Built Environment Glyndŵr University, Wales, United Kingdom
How to take control of your community and keep it! The example of the continuing development of the Eldonian Village, Liverpool. I II III The History of the Eldonian Village Fighting for the Self regenerating community Recommendations for keeping control
Why is Social Housing Political in the UK? 1918 The Great War ends and returning troops demand Homes fit for Heroes, with some fear of a Russian style revolution if their needs were not met. 1940-41 The Nazi Blitz destroys more than a million homes in London alone. The impact is felt especially in poorer industrial areas like Bootle in Liverpool. 1945 The first socialist Labour Party government is elected an established the Welfare State including a universal national health service and the provision of universal access council housing. 1945 to 2011 The ruling right-leaning Conservative and left-leaning Labour political parties fight, win and loose elections around public perceptions of who is the safest custodian of the Welfare State, as those living in social housing become stigmatised as scroungers by right-wing politicians and the British Press.
Why is Social Housing Political in the UK? 1945 The first socialist Labour Party government is elected an established the Welfare State including a universal national health service and the provision of universal access council housing. 1945 to 2011 The ruling right-leaning Conservative and left-leaning Labour political parties fight, win and loose elections around public perceptions of who is the safest custodian of the Welfare State, as those living in social housing become stigmatised as scroungers by right-wing politicians and the British Press.
I The History of the Eldonian Estate What is the Eldonian Estate? A hugely successful urban estate built on contaminated reclaimed land in the 1980s. Situated on the edge of the city centre of Liverpool and still in the industrial area of the Port of Liverpool.
I The History of the Eldonian Village A brave choice of site for Village When the first phase of the village was completed in 1989, it was an oasis surrounded by derelict land and run-down housing that had not yet been reclaimed and redeveloped. Such was the commitment of the residents even then that they knew this was home and that, eventually, further redevelopment would come. The Rebirth of Liverpool: The Eldonian Way Child Care Sports Centre Church Retirement Accommodation
I The History of the Eldonian Village You don t have to take my word for it... 1987: Times/Royal Institute of British Architects award for the most outstanding example of community enterprise in the UK. 2005: United Nations World Habitat Award, first such award for any community in the United Kingdom. http://www.worldhabitatawards.org/ 2005: British Urban Regeneration Association as one of the best examples of regeneration in the UK from 1990 to 2005. http://www.bura.org.uk
I The History of the Eldonian Village United Nations World Habitat Award Why is the Eldonian relevant to you? The ceremony was to take place on the United Nations World Habitat Day, and had previously taken place in official buildings or palaces. On this occasion the organisers decided to hold the event in Kibera, the largest slum settlement in Kenya...When we arrived we witnessed the worst housing conditions that could ever be imagined 750,000 people were living in corrugated huts spread as far as the eye could see...tony and I just looked at each other trying to take in the deprivation laid out before us, and we thought Why are we here? These people should get the award for just existing in these conditions. (George Evans, Director of Housing of the Eldonian Village)
The reply was that the award is less about what is built and more about sustainability and about ideas that, brought back to their basic form, will work anywhere because they are simple.
I The History of the Eldonian Village Who are the Eldonians? 1845-1849 The Irish Potato Famine (the Great Famine) kills 1,000,000 Irish men, women and children and displaces 2,000,000. Many came to Liverpool to go on to destinations including the United States. Many stayed in Liverpool, particularly in the Vauxhall Road area where the Eldonian Village now sits. Housing used by new Irish arrivals in Vauxhall Road area Overcrowding was the root of the problem. The result was that families shared accommodation in what became extremely unhygienic conditions. In Liverpool in 1847 there were 35,000 people, mainly Irish, living in cellars in the Vauxhall and Scotland Road areas while some 5,341 inhabited cellars described as 'wells of stagnant water'. Typhus, dysentery and cholera were rife. (Liverpool Echo website)
I The History of the Eldonian Village Why did the Eldonians take control? The new tenements in the 1930s succeeded in fostering a sense of community...they all felt a sense of comradeship or community, or everybody was equal and everyone was in the same boat. Seventy years of living in these tenements produced a very strong sense of place, of community, of belonging. 1968-1971 Mersey Tunnel Project In this area that had survived the extensive bombing of Liverpool in the Second World War, everything was demolished, including some 500 homes built only five years before: People were rehoused to Speke and Skelmersdale (on the outskirts of Liverpool) and the old community was broken up. I heard of old people who died of broken hearts because they were just shipped out...
I The History of the Eldonian Village The final straw... 1976 Liverpool City Council announce the Slum clearance programme: Most people living in the tenements would have agreed that the housing stock and the environment were in need of renewal. It was the prospect of moving to other parts of the city and losing their community that cause the most distress.
II Fighting for the Self regenerating community Political instability and community violence 1981-Toxteth Riots: In July 1981 rioting broke out in the Granby area of Toxteth. It lasted for nine days and resulted in the destruction of some 71 buildings, 500 arrests and some 450 police officers. 1983-1987- Militant take over of the governing Labour Party in Liverpool City Council 1981-1987-Liverpool becomes the focus of ruling Conservative Party Secretaries of State for the Environment: I believe in partnership, and communities working to a better attainment than perhaps individuals could achieve....and also that deep down I was applying competitive principles. What I was actually doing was removing negative value in order to enable deprived areas, once they d lost the negative value, to compete. (Lord Heseltine)
Why is Social Housing Political in the UK? 1945 to 2011 The ruling right-leaning Conservative and left-leaning Labour political parties fight, win and loose elections around public perceptions of who is the safest custodian of the Welfare State, as those living in social housing become stigmatised as scroungers by right-wing politicians and the British Press. 1981-Right To Buy: The ruling rightleaning Conservative Government apply capitalist principles to social housing. Many council tenants exercised their right-to-buy. By November 1982 the government said more than 400,000 people had bought their council homes. What does the left wing Liverpool City Council say to the Eldonian Community Association?
Why is Social Housing Political in the UK? I believe in public ownership, control and accountability for housing through the elected council. It is the local authority which must satisfy the needs of the working class. Working class organisation in this city lies in the Labour Party and the unions, not in housing associations. (leading Labour City councillor).
II Fighting for the Self regenerating community The Eldonians take on the City Council 1981 - Closure of the Tate & Lyle Sugar Refinery on the Vauxhall Road with the loss of 1,700 jobs 1982 - NGO English Estates Competition announced for the former factor site Eldonians enter in direct competition with Liverpool City Council. The Council won the 6,000 prize. 1983 - English Estates announce that while the Council won they prefer the Eldonian proposal. The largely Irish Catholic Eldonians get both the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool and the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool onside from the start. They also make a successful bid to gain the support of the then Secretary of State for the Environment: My reaction was: this is some of the worst housing one had seen in Liverpool. And I could well understand the local community saying Look, we ve got to do better; and we are determined to do this; we want to do it by ourselves, we don t want to be handed over to the City Council. I think there was huge antipathy already by then, they d seen what had happened. (Lord Jenkins, former Conservative Secretary of State for the Environment).
II Fighting for the Self regenerating community The Eldonians win! when the first phase of the village was completed in 1989, it was an oasis surrounded by derelict land and run-down housing that had not yet been reclaimed and redeveloped... The Council won 6,000 and we won 6,600,000! (66,060R versus 72,666,000R)
II Fighting for the Self regenerating community The Eldonians win!
II Fighting for the Self regenerating community 1989 to 2011 - They ve never stopped
III Recommendations for keeping control BE BOLD! There is no reason why you should just accept your situation. There is no reason you should accept what those in authority decide is right for you. There is no reason why you should not only be involved in the decisions that affect, you but should actually take control and LEAD the process
III Recommendations for keeping control POSITION YOURSELVES! In the UK the party of the working class was the Labour Party and yet it was the perceived party of the ruling class that supported the Eldonians You should not put your housing needs, in the UK now considered a basic human right, after political affiliations If your political leaders cannot help you may need to look to other politicians or even outside of the political system
III Recommendations for keeping control CONSOLIDATE & GROW! The Eldonians knew their village was being built on the edge of a ruined part of the city. They stuck with it and it grew As the informal settlements begin to be tackled you must continue to push authorities and not just accept the new dwelling as the end of the process. Everyone knows there are constraints but remember, Housing should be a human right and these are your homes and your futures.
III Recommendations for keeping control The Eldonian Way The official went on to say that people living in poor conditions need to take control of their lives and understand that their priorities include housing, health, education, employment and safety, and if there s no one else prepared to do it for you, be prepared to take it on yourself.