in trouble again

Oh dear. I have had my wrists smacked, yet again, by the Liverpool Pathfinder New Heartlands (known in some quarters as "New Heartbreak"). This time it relates to a piece in Red Pepper magazine.

I'm sure Liverpool's not the only Pathfinder or council to be cross about the points of view I have put forward. But I find their accusations a little patronising. Clearly I am not a housing or regeneration professional, but neither do I pretend to be.
All I'm doing in a piece like that is giving residents a voice. Unfortunately, this area has become so contentious that alternate viewpoints are barely tolerated. The Liverpool regeneration people seem very twitchy. Surely rigorous debate is a healthy feature of democracy?

Interestingly, this ticking-off coincided with a rather unfortunate report commissioned by Liverpool City Council itself to look at how Pathfinder is working in Merseyside.
Typically, the Daily Mail put a racial/immigration twist into its story (an issue that has NEVER been mentioned to me while visiting affected communities around the region), but the findings are nonetheless interesting:

"The term 'social cleansing' was interestingly also repeated by those attending this focus group.
"White residents said prices offered for houses earmarked for compulsory purchase and demolition were "a disgrace" and meant those removed could not afford to buy another home.
"In another area, Stanley Park, there were similar concerns about crime and compensation prices."

I wonder whether the consultants who did this work will also be getting an angry letter from Pauline Davis, for using the dreaded phrase 'social cleansing' and reporting residents' views.
I personally feel she/New Heartlands missed the real point of the Red Pepper story, which was more about local perceptions about what's going on in their areas, than anything else.
Whether or not the Pathfinder board or city council admit it, the suspicion among local people is that they are being forced out. That doesn't mean it's necessarily happening - but they feel like it is.
I guess its inevitable that tempers will get frayed when it comes to subjects like this one, and in some ways getting a reaction - even an angry riposte like this one - is better than the metaphorical tumbleweed. But I do think they should try to stop taking it all so personally.