Changing the landscape

River Clyde Homes is coming to the end of its £3.5m demolition programme for 2011/12. Four hundred unpopular properties have been removed from the stock as the housing association moves towards bringing all its sustainable properties to the national Scottish Housing Quality Standard by the end of 2015. This means demolishing those properties which are either unpopular or uneconomical to refurbish.

This week, two five-storey blocks in the Mallard Bowl area of South West Greenock were demolished. The properties in Mallard Crescent and Partridge Road were both built in the late 1960s using building methods that do not meet modern standards. Once the sites have been cleared the land will be transferred back to Inverclyde Council as per the pre-stock transfer agreement.

Next month work will begin to demolish the infamous ‘Banana Blocks’ in Oronsay, Port Glasgow. Eight of the original 9 blocks remain and all will be taken down and the ground landscaped. The last two stub block in Park Farm at Westray Avenue and Stroma Avenue will be demolished at the same time.

As Lynne Carr, the Chief Executive at River Clyde Homes, says: “It is always with a hint of sadness that buildings such as these are demolished as  they did provide good family homes for over 30 years and met the housing needs of the time. Sadly blocks like these become unpopular with tenants and are actually so poorly built that it’s not worth investing the money to upgrade them.”

Things step up a further gear this coming financial year as a £4.5m demolition programme is put in place. Some 600 units will be taken from the stock and Inverclyde residents will begin to notice the difference to the landscape as blighted buildings are demolished.