Sowing a few little seeds of confusion

Mersey mischief

Housing in Merseyside will never be the same again. No, this is not the latest cri de coeur over planned demolitions by Liverpool鈥檚 market renewal pathfinder, but reaction to the news that former Chartered Institute of Housing president John McHale is to step down as chief executive of Knowsley Housing Trust in December.

John has never been short of a wisecrack. On a visit to Knowsley, when your correspondent was feeling decidedly worse for wear after being shown the attractions of Liverpool the night before, McHale was unable to resist taking his guest on a tour of an estate with enough speed-bumps to upset the most iron of stomachs. Thanks. You won鈥檛 be forgotten.

California dreamin鈥�

The North-east of England and California don鈥檛 strike Social Animal as being very similar places, but according to a new report, Tees Valley has a Los Angeles-style future. While the region can probably forget about staging the Oscars, the final draft of Tees Valley Living鈥檚 Housing Market Assessment suggests planners should think Hollywood when they鈥檙e building.

The report argues that because of its accessibility by car, and its difficult geography for public transport, 鈥渋ts future is arguably more 鈥楲os Angeles鈥� than the traditional European model鈥�.

Reports that Universal Studios is relocating to Middlesbrough are still awaiting confirmation.

Tiny acorns

The housing world is full of promotional freebees, as many a groaning stand at Harrogate proves. However, among the coasters and teacups, there is now one which aims to make the world a better place. Manchester council鈥檚 pens promoting their antisocial behaviour crackdown are designed to beautify your neighbourhood and could turn the city into dense woodland as a result.

Once the pen has dried up, the owner can take the top off and plant it, and the seed inside becomes a lovely tree. It鈥檚 probably the only time you could drop a pen on the ground in the city without having an ASBO slapped on you.

You鈥檝e got to hand it to them

Confusion reigned at Tower Hamlets as councillors voted to transfer an estate to a housing association last week. Labour and Lib Dem councillors made much of Respect councillor Oli Rahman鈥檚 vote in favour of the transfer to East End Homes. This was despite Respect鈥檚 policy nationally of defending council housing on all fronts. However, Rahman鈥檚 explanation suggested all was not quite as it seemed. 鈥淚 made a genuine mistake,鈥� he told Social Animal.

鈥淚鈥檇 left the room and when I came back in I thought it was the vote to oppose the transfer and raised my hand.鈥�

An inspired move

Kelsey Housing Association has developed a 46-home scheme in Chichester, which is where the poet John Keats was staying when he began his love poem The Eve of St Agnes in 1819. In a tribute to the poet, Kelsey named the development St Agnes Place.

The Eve of St Agnes refers to a ritual that enables girls to see a vision of their future husband. It was said that if a girl went to bed without looking behind her, and lay with her hands behind her head, her husband-to-be would appear in a dream and kiss her.

Kelsey hopes there鈥檒l be more snogs than snags on this project.

Source

Housing Today