Little Klondyke

LITTLEKLONDYKE

4

The Klondyke area consisted of nine hundred Victorian terraced homes, commercial properties and the Welsh Presbyterian Church. Four hundred of these properties were Compulsory Purchased, and the last resident - Bridget Hogan, an 88 year-old woman, was evicted on 8th March 2012. There are 480 properties remaining here, which we plan to refurbish and remodel as sustainable green homes for future generations.

The Maritime Community Development Agency with members of the community and various partners will establish a ‘Little Klondyke Community Land Trust’, to refurbish and bring back into use the homes, commercial properties and the Welsh Presbyterian Church.

The remodelling will produce a larger variety of house types and create new eco homes, providing around 2000 bedspaces for families to build their own homes for the future.

We have the support of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, The Great British Property Scandal and George Clarke (Government Empty Homes Advisor).

1982

94

1983

‘Most people would think it potty that a country with a housing shortage would spend millions knocking down homes just to create open space. We think this is a deeply unimaginative and unappealing way of dealing with empty homes and we urge the councils involved to change their plans and consider renovating empty houses, or even giving them away conditional on new owners renovating them.’David Ireland

(Chief Executive of Empty Homes Agency)

95

1984

96

1985

‘Refurbishment could achieve dramatic benefits far more quickly and cheaply than the bulldozer.’ Marcus Binney

(President of SAVE Britain’s Heritage)

97

19861986

98

1987

‘The people who still live in these places provide the best hope of a revived strong community; many will stay and no doubt more would be happy to return to a revived neighbourhood. Terraced houses are amazingly adaptable and with imagination can be transformed into exciting places to live. Huge amounts of energy and history are invested in them. Adapting them for the future unlocks huge environmental and heritage benefits.’ David Ireland

(Chief Executive of Empty Homes Agency)

99

1988

100

1989

101

‘These substantially sound homes... should be our main target for retrofitting’.Philip Newbold

(Guardian Reporter)

1990

102

1991

103

‘The government should focus on renovating empty homes in order to meet their target of building three million new homes by 2020’George Clarke

(Independent Empty Homes Adviser)

1992

104

1993

‘Whilst Britain needs more homes, they don’t all have to be built from scratch. Creating them from empty property saves substantial amounts of embodied carbon dioxide over building new houses, and minimises the amount of land used for development.’Empty Homes Agency

105

1994

106

1995

‘...tackling the 700,000 empty homes across the country was a top priority for the Government, and would be a key feature in the drive to increase the provision of affordable housing.’Andrew Stunell

(Communities Minister)

107

1996

108

1997

109

‘The government’s housing strategy pledged £150m to tackle the problem and will encourage private landlords and housing providers to use Green Deal funding to renovate empty homes’.Liam Kelly

(Guardian Reporter)

1998

110

1999

‘It’s shocking that hundreds of thousands of houses sit unoccupied while people across the country are in need of a home of their own. Thousands of homes have already been brought back into use in the last year - but there are still many areas where there are whole streets of abandoned homes’.Andrew Stunell

(Communities Minister)

111

2000

112

2001

‘I look forward to...seeing more families benefiting from a secure, stable home as more empty properties are brought back into use.’George Clarke

(Independent Empty Homes Adviser)

113

2002

114

2003

‘Every day Shelter sees families up and down the country whose lives are being torn apart by the shortage of affordable homes.’Kay Boycott

(Director of Communications at Shelter)

115

2004

116

2005

‘Mark (Hines) reached the conclusion that ‘green’ regeneration can best be achieved through sensitive refurbishment and creative upgrading of existing housing stock. This will create urban ‘eco-communities’ which take advantage of infrastructure which is already in place. His is a bold vision and one which no future government can afford to ignore.’Marcus Binney

(President of SAVE Britain’s Heritage)

117

2006

118

2007

‘I care passionately about this subject and I’ll leave no stone unturned in my efforts to find a solution to the problem and get these houses back into use for the families who need them.’George Clarke

(Independent Empty Homes Adviser)

119

2008

120

‘For every two families needing a home, there’s a property standing empty - properties that, all too often, attract squatters, vandalism and fly-tipping. That’s why over the past year, I’ve made £150 million available to bring these homes back into use.’Andrew Stunell

(Communities Minister)

2009

121

2010

122

2011

123

‘A retrofit scheme to scale would create lots of new jobs in construction, reduce homelessness, cut domestic energy consumption and tackle urban blight. What’s not to like?’.Philip Newbold

(Guardian Reporter)

2012

124

P94Dai Gwynne from COMTECHSA visiting Little Klondyke

P95Mona Street

P96Bluebells growing in Aspinals Park

P97Mary Road

P98Vines growing on a drainpipe in Mary Road

P99View over Little Klondyke from Aspinals Park

P100St John and St James Church before demolition

P101Mary Road

P102Monfa Road

P103Recording for The Great British Property Scandal on Edith Road

P104Monfa Road

P105Mary Road

P106Bluebells blooming in Springwell Cottages, Springwell Road

P107Recycling the slates in Willard Street

P108St John and St James Church

P109Mary Road

P110COMTECHSA looking over plans for the future in Elizabeth Road

P111Annie Road

P112Mary Road

P113Eleanor Road

P114St John and St James Church

P115Marion Road

P116Dai (COMTECHSA), Emma and Ed (volunteers) discussing the future

P117Roses growing in the garden of Mary Road

P118Monfa Road

P119George Clarke in Mona Street

P120Monfa Road

P121Mary Road

P122Mary Road

P123COMTECHSA and MCDA volunteers and The Welsh Presbyterian church

P124Mary Road

124 is number of years the Klondyke has been standing and with the our support it will remain for at least another 124 years.

©Little Klondyke 2012Photography by Juliet EdgarDesigned by Jessy EdgarMaritime Community Development Agency, Charity Number: 1067675