Ringo Starr's childhood house could be saved
Wednesday, 20 April 2011 5:42 PM
A reassessment of the impact of demolishing the childhood home of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr could still lead to Liverpool's Welsh Streets being saved.
Save Britain's Heritage has welcomed the move by communities secretary Eric Pickles, who has issued an Article 25 direction preventing Liverpool City Council from granting planning permission for the area until a Screening Direction can be completed.
Under Regulation 5(6) of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999, the outcomes of demolishing the 271 houses – including the home in which Ringo Starr spent the first five years of his life – may yet determine whether permission is granted.
Save Britain's Heritage argues that the initial report did not fully assess the likely impact of demolition in terms of the "embodied energy" held within the existing housing stock, the financial effects of destroying the homes and the cultural loss of Starr's childhood home being knocked down.
As part of its ongoing campaign to save the streets – which contain terraced Victorian houses including Starr's former home on Madryn Street – the organisation recently published an assessment by structural engineer Edward Morton of the Morton Partnership.
Not only did he argue that the buildings were still within the limits of viable repair, but that renovating them would likely prove a less costly means of bringing them up to standard than demolition and reconstruction on the site.
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