LS Lowry Award for Grotty Terraced Housing
Goes to...
Salford City Council
Ladies and gentlemen, for years senior councillors at Salford Council have been telling anyone who will listen that they want to get away from the image of Salford as depicted in LS Lowry paintings...
Around twenty years ago, scores of terraced houses in Seedley and Langworthy were deemed past their sell by date and unsuitable for modern families, although people in the area suspected social cleansing, particularly with Media City looming on the horizon.
After a battle with residents, many of the terraces were eventually knocked down at a cost of millions of pounds of public money, leaving grass crofts and knee rails for years where good, affordable houses used to stand.
Then, in May, planning permission was sought by Salix Homes and Step Places for a development on Kara Street in Seedley that comprised mainly of, er, terraced houses...
"The scheme appears as a modern interpretation of rows of terraced properties" stated the planning application "Terraced dwellings with back yards and/or roof terraces are proposed across the majority of the site and would largely follow the grid-like pattern of streets which is already established within the area...
"Where back to back terraces are proposed, private amenity space would be provided by roof terraces rather than a traditional garden" the report added. In other words, no gardens...which incensed Councillor Bob Clarke, who called the development a "deeply disturbing" planning "disaster".
Meanwhile, Lynne Pringle Adley, representing Goulden Street residents, told the Panel, "We've knocked down many terraced houses in this area and what are going to be built now? More terraced houses, and that was not the point." (see here).
The application was passed anyway, with the scheme marketed as a "reinvention" of the terraced home.
On the consultation website it stated that the houses were designed around principles of, er, "Encouraging interaction among neighbours" (just like the old terraced houses), "Providing a high-quality home which is accessible and affordable" (just like the old terraced houses), and "Promoting an inherent sense of safety with passive surveillance, wider boulevards and minimal blind spots that may encourage crime" (just like the old terraced houses).
The website stated further that "Our approach is to create a high-quality place connected to its community, where the terrace is celebrated and evolved for the next generation...We love the terrace and feel it is still as relevant today as it once was and offers a great way to create a strong community that own the place they live in..."
This Award could have been given to Salix Homes for its total bullshit hype but the judges deemed that Salford City Council should collect the gong as, not only did it pay £zillions to clear the sites of terraced housing to erect more terraced housing, but it encouraged the new scheme, even buying back 17 units at a cost of £115,000 each, for affordable housing. Back in the day, the original terraces were all truly affordable...
Ladies and gentlemen, please touch up your two up, two downs, paint 'Salford's smoky tops' and fondle your donkey stones for the winner of the 2020 Salford Star Mary Burns LS Lowry Award for Grotty Terraced Housing...
Salford City Council!!!
If someone from the Council would like to make an acceptance speech please use the comments box below...
See also this year's other winners of the Salford Star Mary Burns Awards...
The Deer, Deer...Shot Ourselves in the Foot Award - RHS Bridgewater - click here
Feed The Rich Award – English Cities Fund – click here
Uncle Joe Stalin Award for Open and Democratic Government – Salford City Council - click here
The George Bush Read My Lips Award - Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett - click here
Knowing Your Community Award - Salford City Council - click here
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