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April 2003, Page 2.
Index of articles.
In this issue:
(April 2003)
Vicar's letter,
Holywell,
Peace,
A working faith.
Holywell Village - a new future?
Bradford City Council has put together some new proposals that would radically change the Ravenscliffe area. This article and our sketch (which is not a detailed plan) try to outline what might happen.
For several years the Council have wanted to regenerate the estate of Ravenscliffe. Ideally you would do this by leaving the well-maintained houses alone, and only changing the parts which needed improving. But the developers reckoned that this wouldn’t be cost-effective: the sites would be too small to be worth it.
So instead the Council asked developers to consider the whole area, and come up with plans in which they would be allowed to demolish some of the existing housing to make way for new stock. The plans are only provisional yet.
There would be about 700 new houses, of which 200 would be for rent and 500 for sale. About 250 of the present houses would also be refurbished, and it is hoped that any residents who want to stay on the estate will be able to do so. House owners whose houses were compulsorily purchased would get the present market value plus a standard “home loss” payment, but this wouldn’t necessarily cover the cost of buying a new house on the estate.
So far as we can tell, opinion is mixed about these ideas. Everyone agrees that Ravenscliffe needs improving, and there is support for the new name of “Holywell” (named after the spring which rises above the present school playing fields). Understandably there is real concern that residents shouldn’t face the huge costs of buying new houses without at least some help. We await further news.