300 homes to be saved; WELSH STREET RESIDENTS DELIGHTED BY REPRIEVE.

Byline: By LUKE TRAYNOR

HUNDREDS of homes facing demolition in Liverpool's historic Welsh Street district will escape the bulldozers.

Council leader Mike Storey will embark upon a widespread programme of refurbishment in the city's Princes Park area.

Residents living in roads such as Madryn Street, where Beatle Ringo Starr's former home still stands, were delighted by a reprieve, but said they would keep supporting those living in the four streets where homes will be demolished.

Janet Evans, whose mother lives in Madryn Street, said: 'It would be a travesty if some of these lovely Victorian houses, particularly the ones in Kelvin Grove, were knocked down.

'They are not rotting, they just need doing up.'

On Friday, distraught residents living in Kelvin Grove, Wynnstay Street, Voelas Street and Rhiwlas Street - a total of 104 houses - learnt their houses were to be demolished as part of Phase One of the pounds 54m New Heartlands project.

Campaigner Nina Edge, from the Welsh Street Housing Group, says locals will take legal action against the decision, claiming the council did not take their views into consideration.

The group is in talks with solicitors to decide its next step.

But council leader Mike Storey insisted the three other phases, which would have seen a further 300 houses knocked down, have been halted.

Instead, council chiefs will oversee a project of renovating the homes in the surrounding streets in the Dingle area.

Cllr Storey met residents last week before the executive board meeting to listen to residents' views.

'In Phase One, there are 104 properties, 40 of which are empty,' he said.

'Consultation has taken place and the majority wanted demolition to take place.

'But out of 800 properties, only 400 were put forward into the demolition programme. The area has been declared a Neighbourhood Renewal Area and the other phases will see a large number of houses refurbished.

'Housing is not about bricks and mortar, it's about community. And consultation is not about who shouts the loudest.

'But if this is not what the majority of the residents want, we will come back and consult further

Four streets still face bulldozers

LAST week, councillors approved recommendations to demolish homes in Kelvin Grove, Wynnstay Street, Voleas Street and Rhiwlas Street.

It led to calls of protest from residents who say they will continue the fight in court to keep their homes standing. The New Heartlands housing renewal initiative is part of deputy prime minister John Prescott's plan to replace Coronation Street-type terraces with homes with gardens, central heating and double glazing 

CAPTION(S):

MIKE STOREY; RINGO STARR; LAST MINUTE REPRIEVE: Ringo Starr's old home on Madryn Street is no longer to be demolished