page_title: Welsh Streets, Liverpool
section_title: Opinions and renewal proposals
hierarchical_section_title: Welsh Streets, Liverpool / Decline and Pathfinder renewal / Opinions and renewal proposals
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo taken at Toxteth, Liverpool, England.
context_page_description: The Welsh Streets are a group of late 19th century Victorian terraced streets in Toxteth, Liverpool, England. The houses were designed by Richard Owens and built by Welsh workers to house migrants from Wales seeking work; the streets were named after Welsh villages and landmarks.
  The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr was born in Madryn Street, before moving at age 4 and the house is now a tourist attraction. Although some houses were lost in World War II bombing and rebuilt, albeit in a different architectural style, many of the terraced properties in the original street configuration remain in the present day.
  Following a period of decline in the late 20th century, plans were announced in the early 2000s as part of the Housing Market Renewal Initiative programme to demolish the estate and build new, but fewer, houses in their place. Despite the area being cleared of residents and houses prepared for demolition at a cost to Liverpool City Council of nearly £22 million, funding was withdrawn in 2011 following the change in government and the demolition did not take place.
context_section_description: Clearance proved contentious, with some taking the view that the houses were beyond rescue, while others believed them to be fundamentally sound. Campaigning charities led by Merseyside Civic Society and SAVE Britain's Heritage asserted that renovation would be preferable and cheaper. Although predominantly of Victorian architecture, some of the properties had been constructed during the 1950s and 1960s as post-war replacement houses and these were described in an Affordable Housing Program assessment as having "no value in the context of the 19th century terraced houses".
  In 2011, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles quashed planning permission for demolition and required an Environmental Impact Assessment. New proposals for demolition of 250 houses were endorsed by Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson in 2012 and Housing Minister Grant Shapps, who visited the area to announce retention of 9 Madryn Street and 15 adjacent homes. Plans submitted in 2013 suggested that 150 houses could be built and 40 refurbished, including those around the house where Ringo Starr was born. The cost was estimated to be in the region of £15 million which would have seen the demolition of houses from the other surrounding Welsh Streets to be replaced with semi-detached properties. The managing director of the proposed regeneration, Claire Griffiths, suggested that 70% of residents had favoured the plans, yet housing charity Empty Homes disputed the credibility of the public opinion report, given the criteria used would have made it difficult to conclude refurbishment as a favourable option. Anderson wrote to Pickles in July 2013, confirming his support on the proposed redevelopment, suggesting the decision should be a local matter and believed the scale of the proposal was "not of national importance" and with "no design or heritage issues arising".
  The plans ultimately fell through when in January 2015 following a public inquiry, Eric Pickles halted the demolition plans. Pickles agreed with the argument put forward by SAVE and the National Trust, specifically in relation to Madryn Street, in that demolition of much of the street, together with the wider Welsh Streets region would "significantly harm the ability to understand and appreciate this part of Liverpool's Beatles heritage", citing the potential impact for future tourism if the proposals had been accepted. Although the streets had not been designated as a heritage asset, Pickles disputed that the streets were of low significance and believed the proposals would be significantly harmful to cultural heritage and have a detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the nearby Princes Park, directly contradicting the view of an inspector.
caption: Wynnstay Street in 2013, showing the 1950s houses to the left
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