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Surprise at empty homes at £3m Blackburn project
1:20pm Monday 2nd June 2008
Comments (7)
A PROJECT manager of a £3million Blackburn housing estate which has failed to sell has admitted he is "surprised" it is still empty.
The 20-house block in Hamilton Street, in the Infirmary area, is surrounded in barbed wire more than a year after it was "finished".
Residents said the boarded-up site has become an eyesore and a magnet for vandals.
The developer, Milstream Ltd, has not yet been tracked down and it is thought the man behind the scheme is overseas.
Council bosses said it was not finished properly, but contract administrator Ivor Conway claimed there was "no reason" for it to be deserted.
Mr Conway, who was listed as the agent on the planning application but is no longer involved with the project, said: "I was employed by Milstream Ltd which was the developer.
"It's been fenced off since the start of the project.
"As far as I'm concerned, my job was completed last year and there's no reason why they couldn't put them on the market.
"It's as simple as that. All they had to do, and I told them this at the time, was not put them all on the market at the same time.
"They should have done four at a time, but they had this idea to sell them all in one go.
"I organised planning permission, contractors, and sorted out the building regulations. It was all finished in April, 2007, and I have been paid.
"I am a bit surprised with what's happened to be honest. There may be some tech-nicalities that haven't been completed, but the houses themselves are finished."
A spokeswoman for the Land Registry said the plot, a former rest home, was bought by Milstream in 2001 for £160,000. The development had been correctly registered with the registry, she said.
Blackburn with Darwen planning officers said they have no powers because the development was not yet finished and they have not signed it off.
It is thought the owner is now trying to sell the entire complex, which is just yards from the site of a new development under the Elevate regeneration scheme that will bring hundreds more homes to the area.
Your Say YourLancashire Telegraph
Scooby, blackburn says...
6:07pm Mon 2 Jun 08
Surely it's better to sell them cheap to people who would struggle buying a house, than to knock down and start again?
brian, blackburn says...
1:15pm Tue 3 Jun 08
Move, Next Door says...
4:14pm Tue 3 Jun 08
out and about, blagburne says...
4:47pm Tue 3 Jun 08
another immigrant in, your new house says...
10:21pm Tue 3 Jun 08
brian wrote:I don't know about your skin being the wrong colour matey but your spelling shows that even with you being born here you didn't pay attention at school. So I, for starters, want you to repay me the wasted taxes I spent in trying to give you an education. My money probably would have been better spent teaching an immigrant how to spell, they are no doubt better than you. FOOL.
TWIN VALLEY SHOULD BUY THEM AND RENT THEM OUT, AS THERE WAITING LIST IS SO LONG,I HAVE BEEN ON THERE WAITING LIST FOR OVER TWO YEARS, MY SKIN MUST BE THE WRONG COLOUR,HELP PEOPLE BORN HERE NOT IMAGRANTS
Sox, Leeds says...
9:54pm Sun 6 Jul 08
another immigrant in wrote:Not quite sure how the odd spelling mistake by Brian gives you the right to pillory him or for that matter detract from the point he was making.
brian wrote:TWIN VALLEY SHOULD BUY THEM AND RENT THEM OUT, AS THERE WAITING LIST IS SO LONG,I HAVE BEEN ON THERE WAITING LIST FOR OVER TWO YEARS, MY SKIN MUST BE THE WRONG COLOUR,HELP PEOPLE BORN HERE NOT IMAGRANTSI don't know about your skin being the wrong colour matey but your spelling shows that even with you being born here you didn't pay attention at school. So I, for starters, want you to repay me the wasted taxes I spent in trying to give you an education. My money probably would have been better spent teaching an immigrant how to spell, they are no doubt better than you. FOOL.
In fact, I resent having to spend my not inconsiderable taxes on educating the congenitally smug of this world.
BOARDED UP: The homes in Hamilton Street surrounded by barbed wire
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ANGRY MAN, BLACKBURN says...
4:49pm Mon 2 Jun 08