Latest news with #urban decay
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Inside the apocalyptic Scottish estate dubbed 'Britain's answer to Chernobyl' which is FINALLY being torn down after decades of decay despite five people still living there
It's been described as looking like an eerie scene from a post apocalyptic film, a beastly place where vandalism, drug addiction and prostitution were rife in every nook and cranny. These days, the infamous run down Clune Estate in Port Glasgow is strangely quieter but that's only because the ghost town is finally being bulldozed into the ground. Construction workers are now arming themselves with extra thick gloves and steel capped footwear to avoid needles and broken glass as they erase the landmark from sight. Labelled the Scottish Chernobyl on account of its similarity to the abandoned Ukrainian town of Pripyat near Chernobyl, the Clune Estate had fallen into a spiral of decline. After property values plummeted to almost nothing in the area following the decline of the shipyards in the 1990s, the few families that remained moved out and it became a drug and crime hotspot. Of course, it wasn't always like this. Once a thriving pocket of Port Glasgow and home to the workers of shipbuilder Lithgow after the First World War, the Clune Estate boasted its own church school and community centre as well as local shops and offices. It was a sought after community, where people felt safe on the streets, and local kids would go out on their bikes at night. But then as the shipbuilding industry suffered, the prosperous tenants deserted and private landlords took over, housing social security residents through council partnerships. Social and economic problems around the Port Glasgow area meant the estate became a toxic landscape of drug taking and crime, a place where fires were started regularly - 14 in the space of eight months at one point. From 480 happy families, resident numbers diminished in the last fourteen years to around five people who are still in residence, holding tight to a past that is no more. Most, of course, were only too happy to escape. When MailOnline visited this week, we saw bulldozers hard at work demolishing the shells of apartments as part of a six month long project to finally remove the stain of the estate. Whilst on a lunch break, one construction worker told us the work was hard and nerve wracking as he and his colleagues were scared of finding infected needles amongst the rubble. He also pointed out the still sturdy blocks of bricks that now lay strewn across the wasteland after he and his company finally razed them to the ground. As we looked around the now hollow shop facades and offices nearby, he explained that the once thriving estate had become a hot spot for arsonists who had set fire to the school and church and adjoining community centre after the council closed them down years ago. Lead and pipes were stolen after the burnout. The ground on which the barren estate lies has now been earmarked for new homes as part of a big push to better the area. The council initially planned a regeneration scheme more than fourteen years ago according to one of the biggest landlords in the area, David Hay Smith. In fact, a document from 2007 outlines a vision for a safer and better area, which until now has been delayed. However David, 72, claims councilors dragged their feet leaving him and the little community in limbo, before forcing his tenants out of their homes with empty promises of a new better life. David, who lives nearby with his family, claims he lost over three quarter of a million pounds waiting for years for the council to demolish the flats he owned and he now plans to take the case to a Land Tribunal. As the biggest landlord in the area, David who patrols the area in his black Range Rover, and is well known to locals, owned 76 of the flats in the estate and still has one left which houses the last remaining inhabitants. He said he first talked with the council about plans for the area over twenty years ago and having grown up there was keen to cooperate with them about improvements from the estate. He explained : 'I have a lot of good memories from here. It spawned a lot of successes as well as some failures. I ran about out there when I was four, five, six. Then I joined the scouts, and was still running about at 12, 13, 14. I'm born here and raised here. 'I never thought I'd end up with 76 properties here - all part of a portfolio- but from even before 2011 I was told there were plans to regenerate the area. And three years ago the council bought the properties off me apart from one that I still own. He added: 'I was told that the going rate or the district value was between £23-29,000 per property and I initially managed to sell around forty of them off at a decent price. 'However the council would only give me £3,500 per remaining property and they made out I owed them money on taxes - double the normal tax for having the properties empty for so long even though they made me empty them. 'So I'm currently missing around three quarters of a million pounds.' He added: 'I had thought that maybe they would reroof them, put in new doors and windows or whatever and just clean up the area. 'The school was meant to be a listed building and saved, but like everything else they've just flattened it now so let's see if they keep to their word about regeneration.' Like another local we encountered during our visit, he admits the Clune estate had big problems but insists it was self contained. He said: 'They fought among themselves. Young lads become hostile to their parents. The parents put them out and we took them in. And the council ask: 'Can you take them? We'll pay you. There were alcoholics too.' 'We had a community here. I'm not saying it was the strongest, but it was nice at one point. It's where I grew up..' Longterm resident Marshall Craig, 82, says he has no plans to move from the area. As one of around five people left there he says he can deal with any trouble. He explained: 'I've been here five years, but they should have waited till we're all out, before they bulldozed the other flats. I love this because it's quiet here. 'Regardless of what people say, it might have been that it had its bonfires, smashed windows and that all down there but this was the management side and it was OK. 'I have bay windows and it's a beautiful flat. I don't want to shift from here and I'm not moving.'
CBS News
15-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
North Braddock residents want leaders to address borough's blighted properties
North Braddock prides itself on being the birthplace of steel. When the steel mill shut down, people moved out and took their money with them, but that's just the start of a growing problem. At 527 Hawkins Avenue in North Braddock, the safety concern can be seen easily. The entire side of the home is leaning over the road, and it's a safety issue; neighbors said it needs to be addressed. "They don't tear them down. They are just falling down," resident Harold Rutter said. He said the property used to be nice. "Somebody bought it and then sold it to somebody else, and it just fell apart," said Rutter. He doesn't know who owns this specific home now. When asked why he thinks owners have let the property deteriorate, Rutter pointed to the town's general decline. "Hey, nobody wants to live in this town, like I said," Rutter replied. It's a recurring story in the neighborhood where he's grown up. Along Hawkins Avenue, other homes sit abandoned, with broken glass or in disarray, with trash. "It's really frustrating to see all of this crap around here; this stuff is terrible. It used to be a nice, clean town a long time ago," Rutter said. This street is covered with an orange fence and cones when the side of the home eventually falls, and it's not slowing down traffic on a busy road with bus traffic. North Braddock Mayor Cletus Lee said he wants to see this home have an emergency demolition, even if there's no funding. "As not only being the mayor of North Braddock, but also being a demolition contractor, steps need to be taken in place immediately," Lee said. "The most important thing is public safety." The mayor said there's even an email chain with the North Braddock borough council about it. North Braddock Council President Lisa Franklin-Robinson said they've been working hard to fix the blight in North Braddock, and when the council republished a blight study, it found 1,040 blighted parcels. The leaning house on Hawkins Avenue, Franklin-Robinson said, has been on the list for demolition for at least a year. She said that after the storms and rain we've seen, that's made it lean even worse. Then, it got to the point that the council president said they closed half of the street on Monday. Franklin-Robinson said the council is taking steps to fix the issue in the borough. As a council, they've completed a financial health assessment with the help of Local Government Academy. In addition, they've established an open dialogue with every level of government, up to the federal level, and asked for funding. Franklin-Robinson said that last year, the county proposed appropriations through Summer Lee's office, her administration approved $1.2 million, but the Trump administration didn't release the funds. The money was meant for a workforce development program to help teach deconstruction and property demolition while remediating blight. Rutter said he'd like to see positive changes in North Braddock, starting with Hawkins Avenue. "I'd like to see these people tear these houses down and clean this town up a little bit."
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Inside the 'Zombieland' market town where shuffling Spice addicts buy drugs openly on the streets
Dewsbury's once-thriving market stalls hang on by a thread during the day - but as hours pass, a more sinister trade takes over. Brazen drug dealers openly hawk their wares in the late afternoon at the town's historic outdoor market, now a shadow of its former bustling self and a magnet for addicts and street drinkers. A man in his 30s lights what appears to be a crack pipe, as suspicious packages discreetly swap hands among others just feet away. A passing shopper grimaced: 'I'm surprised you haven't been knocked out by the stench of cannabis yet.' Once the beating heart of Britain's cloth industry, the West Yorkshire town now stands as a grim emblem of the nation's broken high streets and its long-suffering industrial towns. Abandoned by big-name giants like Wetherspoons, M&S and McDonald's, the town is now marked by shuttered shops, boarded-up windows, and quiet streets. Opposite Gareth Hardy's comic book and collectables shop is an abandoned pub that has lain derelict for a decade, its upper windows part-boarded and smashed. Three weeks ago, a shopping trolley was dumped outside filled with detritus. It still hasn't been cleared away. Nearby a six-foot road sign has been dumped on the ground of the neglected council-owned 104-year-old Kingsway arcade. Mr Hardy, 42, half-joked: 'I don't know where that signpost is from, but I expect it to turn up one morning and find it sticking out of my shop window.' The businessman, who has battled to keep his beloved Cosmic Toys store alive, has watched Dewsbury's decline with growing frustration. He said: 'The council keeps saying they're going to do all these wonderful things, but 20 years on none of it seems to have happened. 'When you try and have a conversation with them, they're just not interested, or they tell you you're wrong. 'It must be the only town centre in Britain that cannot even sustain a Wetherspoons and McDonalds. We've lost Marks & Spencer too. These days, Mr Hardy only opens his shop three days a week, closing on quieter days to avoid being targeted by thieves. He explained: 'It's just so the riff-raff don't come in. 'Because I know all they're doing is shoplifting and I haven't got the time to stand around watching them. 'They'll never buy anything, they just want to steal things to sell in the pub or wherever it is they're going with it.' Mr Hardy is reluctant to close his shop and revert to online sales and hopes the council may finally deliver on its regeneration promises. He said: 'I do feel like at the moment we are at the very bottom. I don't think it can get worse than how it is right now.' Mr Hardy's despair is echoed by many across Dewsbury, despite a 10-year council masterplan promising much-needed change. The market is set to be transformed under a multi-million pound regeneration scheme. For Tahir Baig, a stallholder of 35 years, the project cannot come soon enough. Looking over at a cluster of drug addicts and street drinkers loitering on market stalls, the fruit and veg trader, 64, said: 'This used to be booming. 'People from all the small towns would come to Dewsbury and look at the markets and the shops. 'There was a family atmosphere. People were fed-up sitting at home so they'd come out and have a wander. 'It was really a lovely atmosphere. 'But now, there's nothing much left here. The town centre has been killed - there's nothing left. Unless you want a kebab or a vape, or go to a charity shop. 'This town, I don't know what's happening. People used to come and walk around and talk to each other. Hustling and bustling, Now, it's dead.' The statistics paint an equally worrying picture. Dewsbury's unemployment rate stands at 5.2 per cent - higher than the national average - while youth unemployment is 8.2 per cent. Of the town's 41,500 working-age residents, nearly 15,000 are officially classed as 'economically inactive'. The town's troubled past also still casts a long shadow. In 2008, it became the focus of national horror when nine-year-old Shannon Matthews vanished - only for it to emerge that her own mother, Karen Matthews, had staged the kidnapping in a bid to claim a £50,000 reward. Three years earlier, Dewsbury was in the headlines as the hometown of Mohammed Sidique Khan, the ringleader of the 7/7 London bombings which claimed 52 innocent lives. Yet despite the town's entrenched problems - familiar to many town centres across the UK - there are those who believe there is still hope. Sue Reynard, 42, who lives in Bradford but works in Dewsbury at a charity-run bookshop, believed the town's reputation is unfair. 'When the council puts on events, it brings people into town. But nine times out of ten, it is quiet,' she admitted. 'But compared to Bradford, the people are nicer - kinder. 'Over there, you have to put padlocks on your pockets. Around here I can walk with my purse in my hands. I do feel safe here.' Others, however, have had enough and chosen to walk away. Tina Hinchliffe, 47, and her partner Lee McEvoy, 59, left Dewsbury for nearby Slaithwaite after falling out of love with the town. Mr McEvoy said: 'Many years ago, people had coach trips here. People would come from far and wide to explore the markets. 'Now they just want to get the bus out of here. 'Everything has died. There's not even a butcher's anymore. 'All you've got are bookies, casinos, kebab shops and nail salons. 'We don't miss it. Where we live now, we've got the greengrocer, the butcher, the barber, the cake shop, the DIY shop. 'It's like being in a different time zone.' Tina said the scourge of drug addicts plaguing the town had left older residents fearful of venturing into the centre. Pointing to a group converged outside a Ladbrokes bookmakers, she said: 'There's at least half a dozen fellas sat there drinking alcohol. Work is also underway to restore Victorian-era Dewsbury Arcade, which is set to reopen next year alongside the park and market revamp 'Today they're quiet because the sun's out, but they're not usually that quiet. And they have scared off a lot of the older people. 'They don't want to come into town anymore because there's always people drinking, shouting and swearing. And it's scary. 'Depending on what time they've been drinking, usually about 3 or 4pm, then they start fighting and brawling.' Kirklees Council insists that help is finally on the way, with a £15million regeneration plan promising to breathe new life into the crumbling town centre. The ambitious scheme includes revamping the market with food, drink and entertainment, as well as a new green park space with children's play areas and seating. Work is also underway to restore Victorian-era Dewsbury Arcade, which is set to reopen next year alongside the park and market revamp. Officials say Foundry Street will also be made more pedestrian-friendly, with improved public spaces to entice visitors back. Meanwhile, police claim they are cracking down on crime, targeting street drinking, theft and aggressive begging. West Yorkshire Police has put in undercover officers to reassure traders and shoppers. Inspector Liz Lockwood of Dewsbury Neighbourhood Policing Team said in April: 'We have taken a number of recent reports regarding theft and street drinking and want to make it clear that this sort of anti-social behaviour and crime will not be tolerated in the town centre.'
Wall Street Journal
11-07-2025
- Wall Street Journal
Mayor Daniel Lurie: ‘San Francisco Needs to Save Itself'
San Francisco A few years ago there was blood in the streets of San Francisco, and in some neighborhoods that wasn't the worst of it. Mayor Daniel Lurie has come close to stepping in human feces on the sidewalk: 'We all have. That's where we got as a city—it was just commonplace. You just knew that you'd see needles on the street, you'd see people using drugs openly as families took their kids to the bus stop.'
Irish Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Property dereliction is antisocial behaviour perpetrated by the rich – it can no longer go unpunished
The dysfunctional state of Ireland's housing market was perfectly illustrated by the recent collapse of a derelict cottage on Dublin's Grand Canal . As hard as it might be to believe, this property is owned by the very people who are supposed to represent Ireland's builders. Last week it was revealed that in the middle of a housing crisis , when every property should be occupied, the owner of a small terrace of derelict cottages on a prime site in Ranelagh was none other than the Construction Industry Federation (CIF). Let that sink in for a minute. The organisation that has presided over this episode of urban decay, allowing dwellings to fall into ruin, is the lobby group whose members are supposed to be building the country. Only in Ireland. This represents policy dysfunction on a monumental scale, laid bare in a micro-aggression against society at large. You might think the term aggression is over the top, but it's not if you regard dereliction as an antisocial behaviour that spreads from one property to another and from one street to the next. We are used to hearing the 'antisocial behaviour' label to describe a gang of young lads in hoodies hanging around a street corner threatening passers-by. It is considered antisocial because it detracts from the sociability and cohesion of the area. READ MORE Dereliction is similarly antisocial but it is perpetrated by rich adults rather than poor youths. Allowing homes and buildings to degrade to such an extent gives permission to other landlords to abuse their property, typically hoarding in the hope of future gain. Dereliction begets dereliction. The more hoarding, the less property available in the city and the higher the overall price of property. The hoarder is quids-in. This must be stopped. Property ownership is more than mere financial asset management: the owners of property are custodians of the urban environment. Apparent indifference is not a victimless crime. The area is the victim. Delinquent behaviour, ie allowing buildings to degrade, undermines the other owners who are acting responsibly by maintaining their properties. That the CIF is abandoning buildings a stone's throw from the city during a housing crisis underscores the lamentable state of the Irish property market. What is the Minister of Housing going to do about this? When an organisation with influence over housing and development policy can show such blatant disregard for the city, we know we have reached a new low in terms of bureaucratic incompetence and rank hypocrisy. We hear people talking on the airwaves about rebuilding Ireland, while at the same time allowing the delipidated buildings they own in Ranelagh fall down during morning rush hour. You couldn't make it up. It is clear that we need substantial fines imposed on reckless property owners Can someone take responsibility, please – if only for the credibility of the State that indulges such organisations? What does it take? A pedestrian, motorist or cyclist to be killed under the crumbling debris? Although it is particularly egregious, the canal episode isn't an isolated incident. GeoDirectory , the data company used by An Post , has estimated that 14,500 residential and commercial properties lie vacant across Dublin , with 4,000 of these occupying prime locations in the city centre. In the past year or so, dereliction has become substantially worse, with a more than 20 per cent increase on the 12,000 or so vacant properties identified by GeoDirectory in the capital in 2023 . Between the two canals are 4,082 vacant buildings. Half of these are commercial, roughly one-third are residential and the remainder are mixed-use. Dublin 2 is the worst offender, home to 41 per cent of vacant buildings, of which the vast majority (75 per cent) are commercial. The Victorian commercial districts of Dublin 1 (Parnell, Talbot, Capel and Dorset Streets) account for more than half (610) of the vacant flats above commercial units. The city is literally falling down in front of our eyes. And while dilapidation in Dublin is particularly acute, the same story applies across Ireland's urban centres, from Drogheda to Cork and Waterford to Limerick. [ Construction Industry Federation owes €140,000 in derelict levies at €23m site of Dublin 6 terrace collapse Opens in new window ] [ Irish Rail seeks 'maximum' number of homes for new Dublin suburb, despite Uisce Éireann warning on capacity Opens in new window ] Dereliction and vacancy are the result of choices made by individuals, companies and even lobby groups like the CIF. It is time to put a price on those choices because dereliction destroys not just the buildings themselves but also the streets. Allowing your building to become derelict must be called out as antisocial behaviour. It is clear that we need substantial fines imposed on reckless property owners, both to change their behaviour and to send a signal. Many of these people are hoarding their buildings in the hope of selling on at a higher price. Such behaviour must be discouraged with a penalty. For example, once a building is categorised derelict by the local council, the owners should face a hefty fine on their total income – not just their property income. Owners shouldn't be permitted to hide behind corporate trickery, allowing them to pretend a different corporate facade to escape the financial consequences of their social irresponsibility. In no time, the property market would be flooded with buildings that were previously hoarded As well as the big stick of punishment, the State might try something softer, at least initially. Realising that people react to incentives, why not incentivise bad owners to sell to good owners who will do something positive with the site? When it comes to vacancy and dilapidation, owners often claim penury, or some legal familial or inheritance dispute to explain why their property is allowed to degrade. So why not issue an amnesty to coax them to sell the properties within a year, after which point a draconian penalty is imposed to make them change their ways. The council might give these owners a chance to avoid a big fine by giving an amnesty – a last chance to sell. If they sell immediately, they can avoid the fine; if not, the council will come down on them like a fiscal ton of bricks. In no time, the property market would be flooded with buildings that were previously hoarded, driving down prices in the city where prices were, up to recently, thought to be only going upwards. This is doable at the stroke of a pen with a bit of political courage. Wouldn't it be great if our politicians tried to fix what's right under their noses as opposed to opining on the global picture, which they can do nothing about? As for the CIF, on behalf of your members – the builders of Ireland – have you no shame?
