A ROW has broken out over the future of housing in Easterhouse, with community housing providers claiming they have been abandoned.
A ROW has broken out over the future of housing in Easterhouse, with community housing providers claiming they have been abandoned.
Neighbouring Wellhouse and Blairtummock Housing Associations say they cannot get cash to build low-cost family houses on derelict sites.
They say socially rented homes are vital to rehouse tenants living in "horrendous" properties, prevent gang fighting and complete two decades of regeneration in an infamous area of deprivation.
Families feel forgotten'EASTERHOUSE has seen massive regeneration but much still needs to be done.In Wellhouse Crescent, new homes built by Wellhouse Housing Association sit next to GHA blocks earmarked to come down but with no plan for what will replace them. Mum-of-two Jennifer Strang lives in a GHA home in the area. She said: "All I want is a warm house. My house is damp and there are beetles." Neighbour Maggie Park, who also has two young children, said: "Some of the houses here don't even have central heating." Nearby is the Blairtummock area, with its grim 1950s estates and gap sites. The McEnroe family live in a third-floor, 1950s GHA flat on the Rogerfield estate. Parents Raymond and Lorraine, and children Joseph, 10, Craig, 9, Rose, 7, Elizabeth, 5, Lorraine, 4, April, 18 months and baby Derek, 4 months, live in a two-bedroom property. Lorraine, 36, said: "We see lovely new houses going up but we feel forgotten." Raymond, who works on a production line, said: "We were offered a house in Parkhead but we want to stay in our own community." A GHA spokeswoman said there were only two suitable homes for them in Rogerfield - both of them occupied. |
Both have strong track records of regenerating their areas and are seen as models of community ownership.
The associations say they are willing and able to build up to 250 houses in Wellhouse and Rogerfield - all they need now is the cash, around £14million.
Both have been knocked back for funding by the council and GHA, which own dilapidated properties that would be knocked down to make way for the new homes.
But both the council and GHA point out they are spending tens of millions building new homes in other parts of Easterhouse.
In a document obtained by the Evening Times, council regeneration chiefs suggest Easterhouse has had its fair share of help and no more socially rented housing will be needed in the foreseeable future.
It also suggests other projects - including the Commonwealth Games Village and the M74 extension - are more deserving, and private housebuilders should step in to bridge gaps.
But that has given little hope to angry residents who now plan to protest at the city chambers.
Tenant chairman at Wellhouse Housing Association Willie Mulligan, 53, who has lived in the area for 45 years, said: "The job in this part of Easterhouse is only half done. We want to finish it.
"Tony Blair and Alex Salmond have visited and told us what a great job we're doing. So to hear Easterhouse won't be getting any new money is a kick in the teeth.
"The private sector will not provide the answer - developers are experiencing major problems due to the credit crunch.
"But we won't go away, we'll fight this all the way until every tenant in Easterhouse has a safe, warm home."
Blairtummock Housing Association chairwoman Ellen Casey, who has lived in the area for 17 years, said: "We've been fighting for these changes for five years. Anyone who says we don't need this money should come and see these sites. Rogerfield contains poor, overcrowded homes that aren't fit for the families who live in them.
"Arrowfield is an empty site used for gang fighting."
Easterhouse SNP councillor Grant Thoms said he supports the residents' fight. He said: "Easterhouse is being short changed.
"Lots of good work has been done but what's the point of leaving bleak gap sites if we can fill them with housing which lets people live in the neighbourhood they have grown up in.
"The council has to get its act together and agree with the housing associations a timescale to complete what it started."
A city council spokesman denied they had abandoned tenants in Easterhouse. He said: "A parochial approach that only looks at housing on a street-by-street basis will never form a satisfactory solution.
"The council has made a massive investment in housing in the Greater Easterhouse area.
"Our plans will see another 300 newbuild homes as part of our continuing investment into Easterhouse, underlining our commitment to the area."
Jim Sneddon, GHA's executive director of regeneration said: "We are working with the council to play our part in the regeneration of Easterhouse."
