la la la...we're not listening
The demolition/regeneration debate continues.
In the second part of a series on housing renewal I'm writing for the Big Issue in the North, I visited Goole, a small town in East Yorkshire, where residents believe the council is set on hiving off valuable land close to the River Ouse for - you guessed it - luxury flats and town houses.
Two streets are up for clearance and are already all but empty. It might not seem like a big deal but to locals it is a matter of principle.
Campaigners say the buildings are structurally sound and a local developer believes he could actually convert them into decent family homes - some with garages - for less than £70,000 each.
Yet the local authority, East Riding of Yorkshire Council (once nicknamed "Deaf ERYC" by the wags at Private Eye), refuse to countenence the idea, saying demolition was agreed several years ago and must therefore go ahead.
One of the things which understandably seems to frustrate opponents of housing policy - not just in Goole but also their counterparts across the country - is the complete inflexibility of the relevant authorities.
There seems to be no room for discussions or for revising the plans if circumstances change. Many renewal schemes taking place across the North West and beyond were kicked off in the early '90s.
Since then, housing prices have spiralled across the UK - including in many of the zones earmarked for demolition.
The numbers of homeless families and people unable to get onto the housing ladder have increased, leading some to question the sense of allowing properties stand boarded up and decaying.
But councils seem so bureaucratic and set in their ways, that once a decision is made - no matter how questionable that course of action may be - there is no way to open up the debate once again. Even if the homes condemned to demolition happen to still be standing.
Tell me where the shame is, exactly, in reviewing an issue several years down the line. After all, our ability to adapt, reason and change our minds according to the evidence presented to us is meant to be one of the things which sets humans apart.
We're not sheep, after all - although sometimes you wonder.
Wherever I've looked at the issue of housing, the council in question has made a big thing of how they consulted local residents at great length and invariably put their critics down as being small self-appointed groups who shout loudly and have vested interests.
But speak to those same community members and the vast majority feel any consultation has been a sham, and the outcome a foregone conclusion. Funny how vested interests is exactly the accusation thrown back at those driving the renewal process.
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