Blackburn resident tells council: I will not be moved

9:40am Saturday 19th July 2008

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By Tom Moseley »

THE last person left living in a street due to be bulldozed for regeneration work has told council bosses: I will not be moved.

Daniel Hillary’s last neighbour in Highfield Road, in the Infirmary area of Blackburn, moved out in January, and all the other houses are boarded up with the windows filled in with concrete.

Just two other houses in the entire 150-house block - which includes HIghfield Road, Mosley Street, Rockcliffe Street and Alaska Street - are still occupied, and it is thought those residents are about to leave.

Bulldozers are already at work knocking the empty properties down.

Last week Mr Hillary launched a court battle for an injunction to try and halt the demolition, which if successful could lead to a costly public inquiry.

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council bosses said they were supporting Mr Hillary, 30, and trying to negotiate a fair price for his home.

But Mr Hillary said the council had to ‘prove it had the right to acquire my home’.

The stand-off was sparked after it as revealed in 2005 that council officers had “altered” independent surveys on the houses so the properties were labelled unfit to live in.

Mr Hillary complained to Local Government Ombudsman Anne Seex, claiming the council had not used the correct procedure before deciding to clear the area.

Now, her interim report has found maladministration in the council’s failure to maintain clear and adequate records, and for serving notice of demolition before councillors had given the green light. But it concludes no injustice was caused to Mr Hillary.

In her conclusions, Ms Seex said the council should apologise to Mr Hillary and pay him £250.

Mr Hillary added: “I was expecting a public inquiry before demolition started. The council has decided the best course of action is demolition, and I disagree.

“Of course it would have been easier to have moved. But I think the council is wrong and I’ve put it to them when they prove they have the right to acquire my property we will start talking about it.”

Mr Hillary said he had installed high-security gates in front of his door because the deserted estate is plagued with vandalism.

Mr Hillary, who has lived on Highfield Road since 2003, said: “It was a good area when I moved in. There were a lot of older people who had been there a long time. On the whole, most people wanted to stay.

“Now I have affectionately renamed it the West Bank. It reminds me of the news when you see people literally being bulldozed from their homes.”

Sayyed Osman, director of neighbourhoods, housing and customer services, said the council had fully co-operated with the ombudsman’s long-running inquiry.

He said: “Mr Hillary’s underlying issue for the past two years has been what he considers his property is worth. The council has done everything within its powers to offer Mr Hillary the best justifiable package as value and compensation for his property.

“We will continue to support Mr Hillary, as we have done to date, within the bounds of our powers and resources.”

Eventually the plan is to regenerate the area under the multi-million pound Elevate regeneration scheme.