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“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
― Albert Einstein
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HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN? Continued... Below is a letter dated 25th July 1999, it was given to us by an elderly resident - Mr Roberts who has lived on the odds side of Lothair for more than 20 years. We don't know who he addressed his letter to. As far as we can establish, it was addressed to LPG Executive Team. We have no idea who they are. He asks questions back in the summer of '99 that have never been answered and those same questions are still being asked by residents today.
Ref; Anfield Regeneration Private Sector Household Survey Area 25th July 1999 Dear Sir I have just received your pamphlet The Pool', which invites comments. Last week I attended a meeting, held by Liverpool Council at Breckfield School, Anfield, concerning the 'regeneration' of the area around the Liverpool Football Club. The meeting was chaired by Sue McCready, Area Team Manager, and a representative of the Market Research Team UK, In the audience was Councillor Walker, representatives of Riverside Housing, Liver Housing,'the Police Inspector of this area and a few elderly house owners from the area. Glaringly conspicuous was the absence of any representative or spokesperson from Liverpool Football Club, who must bear much of the responsibility for the decline of this area. 
The football ground is bordered on one side by Skerries Road. Eight houses in Skerries road are property owned by LFC. They have been empty for twelve years and have been frequently burgled and vandalized during this period. Only after recent adverse publicity in the local paper did it come to light that the houses are owned by LFC. The Football Club shifted blame for the state of the road to local estate agent 'Berkley Kersh' (now Suttton Kersh), who they claimed were responsible for the security of these properties.
Since the negative publicity the houses have been secured although they remain empty. Also, within the last fortnight the entry which runs along the back of Skerries Road has been cleared of rubbish and rats at a cost of £7000. This was paid for by LFC after many years of complaints from local residents. The opposite side of the football ground is bordered by Lothair Road where I live. The rear of my house overlooks the entrance to the Main Stand. There are twenty houses on this side of the street, seven are privately owned and the remainder are the property of LFC or housing associations. In the last three weeks five of these seven privately-owned houses have been sold for cash. I believe LFC to be behind these sales using agents working on their behalf. The owner-occupiers have been told by those who are, apparently, conducting the sales of the properties that they have six weeks to move out. If they are unable to find suitable accommodation within this period they will have the option of renting their former homes at a cost of £250 per month. A strange option is the offer of an additional £1000 if the vendors leave behind curtains, carpets, beds, furniture and any other items which make the houses available for immediate occupation. This would appear to suggest that the properties will be let as furnished which will offer no security of tenure. 
The manner in which these houses have been purchased is most unusual. In order to sell one's property the first step is to make a telephone call to a person known as 'Simon" who is a resident at Tina's Guest House, Anfield Road, which is another recent acquisition of LFC. Next, 'Simon' visits the house in question, counts the number of rooms and makes an offer on the spot. I also believe LFC have purchased a number of properties on Anfield Road, Walton Breck Road and Lake Street.
My major concern is that any regeneration of this area is completely pointless until any developments planned by LFC are brought to light. The properties that I have already mentioned are being bought and either left empty as prime targets for vandalism or being filled to capacity with 'problem' families. I know that LFC is, despite the working class loyalties of many of its fans, at heart a multi-million pound business just like any other. However, I believe that LFC have a responsibility to the area surrounding the football ground and they should be represented at any meetings that concern the local community. I am certain that the Council is not aware of all the points I have made because last year, as I am in my seventies and disabled, they authorized a disability Grant of over £20,000 to improve the facilities in my home. I am sure that the Council would not have funded these alterations if there had been any indication that I would be forced to sell and my house demolished. Thus far, I have no firm evidence that this will happen but, despite many letters and inquiries no person or organisation has been able to confirm or deny the rumours. I am, therefore, writing in the hope that someone at LPG Executive Team has any information on this extremely worrying situation. In the local free paper, The Star and Merseymart, it is reported that LFC is at the centre of a City Council Probe concerning the razing of well-established trees in order to turn the gardens of recently acquired properties into car parks. LFC refused to make any comment on this development (HOUSES ON ANFIELD ROAD) Last week I attended a meeting in the LFC stadium chaired by Mike Storey, the leader of the Council. Local Councillors were in attendance but, again, no representative of LFC was available to answer any of the most important questions - 'What are they doing to this area?' I have now received a copy of the free paper, The Star and Merseymart bearing the headline 'Liverpool Speaks' which means that, finally, the underhand activities of LFC have been exposed and questions are being asked by official bodies not just worried individuals. The football club have stated that they will now attend the next Council and Tenants' meeting in October and release details of the properties that they own. I think not. Will they admit knowledge of 'Simon' and James McFadden (allegedly a director of LFC) who have been purchasing houses in Lothair Road on a massive scale? Since this purchasing activity has become common knowledge and been reported in the press the procurement has ceased. One can only speculate that perhaps enough properties in the road have been secured in order for the rest to be made the objects of compulsory purchase orders and then demolished. I believe this to be the plan, as when house-owners initially received offers for their property they were informed that should they choose not to accept, the offer would be withdrawn and their home would become the object of a compulsory purchase order. They were also given strict instructions to keep all this information confidential - in some case these instructions appeared to verge on being a threat. In August, I wrote a letter to Sue McCready , Area Team Manager of the Anfield Regeneration Survey Area, giving her this information in writing. She phoned me after receiving my letter stating that she had no knowledge of LFC's plans for this area. However, I remained unconvinced as the map produced by the Regeneration Group is a blueprint for LFC and not for the residents around the ground. One part of the map even showed the clearance of Tancred Road. Was this map made before or after all the houses were burned down? 
The latest information I have read is that LFC want to rebuild a stand to take an extra twenty thousand people. This new stand will be adjacent to my house. Does this mean that now Lothair Road has been bought out, with the exception of myself and one other house, that I am to be thrown out of my property with the backing of the Council for the expansion of LFC. These are questions I have been asking since I first saw the map and proposals for the expansion of the football ground. Nobody has answered these questions. Not LFC, who have succeeded in surreptitiously acquiring all of this property or the Council, whom I believe should be representing the interests of local residents and not looking after the interests of big business at the expense of everyone else. LFC are the only party who have the money to develop this area as proposed. The Council deny having funds to make any of this happen, so why develop the proposals in the first place? Yours Sincerely Mr E Roberts Concerned Resident |
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It's Time To End The Lies
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Copyright © 2012 The Triangle. All rights reserved. The Triangle website is non-funded and non-profit generating
Copyright © 2012 The Triangle. All rights reserved. The Triangle website is non-funded and non-profit generating
