Our seaside town’s only block of flats is a blot on the landscape… now it’s going to be demolished & we’re thrilled
LOCALS say their seaside town’s only block of flats is a block on the landscape and they can’t wait for it to be demolished.
Homeowners in Lowestoft, Suffolk, have complained that life has changed dramatically in the last few years since the council started housing “homeless families” in one block of flats.
The 16-story tower was once filled with people who “looked after each other” and residents who hosted events.
But it has since become a meeting ground for youths who smoke cannabis and adults who drink all day, claim some occupants.
And following a catalogue of issues, the local council is now taking steps to demolish the building altogether.
Retired lorry driver Peter Mitchell, 82, who moved into the tower twenty-one years ago, said: “This used to be a smashing place to live – in the early days there were no young families.
“People looked after each other and kept an eye on their neighbours and there was no trouble.
“We had things like weekly bingo sessions.
“I liked it here but now it is different – the council has been putting some homeless families in the flats and the place is full of teenagers hanging around at night.
“There is a stink of cannabis in the lifts and public areas and I just don’t feel safe anymore.
“I am just glad to get in and lock my front door behind me.
“I feel very unhappy about what has happened here – I used to enjoy the peace and quiet but that’s largely gone.”
A young mum of two, Chloe Hill, 25, said she doesn’t feel safe taking her six-year-old and three-year-old daughters out.
She told The Sun Online: “The place has really changed – there are a lot of people using drugs about and I no longer feel safe.
“In the last six years life has changed – it is no longer peaceful – kids keep setting off the fire alarms and so we have to evacuate the building.”
Jessie Butler, 25, also has two youngsters, and added that the area is no longer a safe place to live.
She said: “This is not a nice safe place to live – then other day someone threw a sofa out of window. It could have killed someone.
“And fires have been started as well.
“It’s got considerably worse in the last few years – we lost our full-time caretaker and since then some of the flats have become homes for women who seem to drink all day and kids doing drugs.”
East Suffolk district council has promised 150 worried residents that despite plans to knock their home down, they will be re-housed and given “disturbance” money.
Councillor David Beavan said the tough decision comes as the block needs improvements and it would cost nearly £10m to carry them out.
He said: “We have seen this coming – and prepared for it.
“The last thing we wanted to do in the middle of a housing crisis was knock down 90 council flats.
“But we had little choice – it could cost as much as £9 million to bring the block up to the required standard to cover the next decade and the tenants’ lives would be severely disrupted.
“Instead we have decided to make the difficult decision to demolish the flats – and that will inevitably cost a seven- figure sum – and provide new sustainable council homes to rent for the next 100 years.
“We are not afraid to take tough decisions in the best interests of Lowestoft people we know that these flats are not just bricks and mortar but real homes to the families who live in them.
“It was once a great community held in huge affection by the local community but the tenants realise that the time has come.
“But I can guarantee that every tenant will be offered appropriate alternative social housing in the town. No-one is going to be exiled.”