Labour councillor labels Brierfield street 'a ghetto’ (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Labour councillor labels Brierfield street 'a ghetto’

10:15am Friday 30th December 2011 in Brierfield By Tyrone Marshall, Reporter

A STREET in Brierfield has been labelled a ‘ghetto’ by a councillor who wants the eyesore block improved.

Labour councillor Naeem Ashraf said Pendle Council had turned Railway Street into a ‘shambles’ and said money had been wasted in the area.

However, Pendle’s Tory council leader, Mike Blomeley, hit back saying it was decisions made centrally by the previous Labour administration which had led to the problems.

Coun Ashraf wants any future investment in the area put to consultation for the views of local residents and councillors.

He said: “The state of the properties owned by Pendle Council on Railway Street are a shambles and resemble what can only be described as a ghetto.

"This is totally unacceptable.

“Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been wasted on expensive consultants when it doesn’t need a rocket scientist to tell you what’s needed.

“Why can’t the council buy a few of the closed shops on the main road and relocate the betting shop, opticians and pizza shop on to the main road, and finally demolish that eyesore of a block and landscape it before any more money is wasted?”

The houses in the street were bought by the council through Housing Market Renewal money.

Coun Ashraf said: “If a private landlord had left his properties in this mess we would be asking for legal enforcement action.”

Coun Blomeley said: “I find his comments deeply ironic as the money was wasted when the canal corridor regeneration project was run centrally by his party.

“We are simply trying to unpick that mess, with vastly reduced funding.

"As for consultation, Coun Ashraf has already been informed that nearby residents and businesses will be asked their views on plans for the Railway Street area.”