I’m sorry to hear that Elizabeth Pascoe, the Liverpool woman who fought to save her house and 400 Victorian properties from clearance for the Edge Lane road scheme, has finally been defeated. Pascoe, who I’ve written about here and here failed to overturn a second compulsory purchase order in a high court hearing yesterday.
Her fight has taken up four years of her life and cost more than £40,000. She fears for what the victory of the quangos means for ordinary people who stand in the way of developers.
She said: “I have no contingency plan, it was a fight to the death as far as I was concerned. It has to be up to others now, younger than I, to fight for the future, against the insanity of mindless consumerism, obviously damaging the planet and society, not just our built heritage, and the sort of hype that tells us what is being done is progress.
“My conscience is clear. I tried. I fear greatly for what our grandchildren will inherit. Hopefully sense will prevail before it is too late.
“This time – unlike last – there was no ‘technical’ remedy in law. As quangos become ever more powerful and ever less accountable alongside increasingly ‘joined up’, I and so many others who know fear it will be virtually impossible for anyone to have a voice.
“As I see it the battle is like housework. We don’t ever “get anywhere” but my goodness it is so much worse if we don’t try. I gave it my best shot.”
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