Context 181

CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 19 URBAN HOUSING in poor condition but increasingly reaching into areas of better housing which could economically be kept and improved. The 1969 act was a precursor to the more intensive housing improvement measures included in the Housing Act 1974. Both combined renovation grants for private owners with government funding of environmental improvements for the areas to be retained. The GIA declaration in Eastwood was justified using a cost-benefit analysis required by government. This showed an average cost per bedspace for improving the properties of £1,633, compared with a likely new build/replacement cost of £3,252 (both figures at 1974 prices). Following the GIA declaration and somewhat in defiance of the Coal Board’s advice, the council went ahead and improved one empty property as a show house, so that residents could see and comment on the planned work to their homes. In the event, the new mining activity had no noticeable effects on the structure of the houses and the delay turned out to have been unnecessary. Another reason for seeking GIA status was access to the limited government fund of £200 per house for environmental improvements. The legislation allowed for local authorities to bid for a higher level of funding than this and, given the extensive environmental works needed, the new Broxtowe Council applied for it to be increased to £828 per house. This was the first time nationally that such an application had been made and, after lengthy negotiations and submission of evidence, a higher level of grant was approved – at a princely £210 per house. Nevertheless, given the commitments made to residents (who were involved in discussions with the council through an elected committee), the council went ahead with the original plans. Most of the surviving houses face on to Princes Street, which runs west to east along the slope of the hill on which The Buildings still stand. Today, it is tree-lined and trafficfree. Round the corner, the modern library with its Lawrence section is still open, even if the nearby Lawrence Heritage Centre was forced to close because of government cuts. Broxtowe Council turned 8a Victoria Street, the Lawrence birthplace, into a small museum as part of the improvement scheme, kitting it out as a respectable working-class home of the late 19th century. A visitor can see some of Lawrence’s paintings and other relics. While residents fought hard to keep their homes, few were keen for Lawrence to be recognised in the place which figures so prominently in his novels. One who did was Enid Goodband, who persuaded the council to buy the house and preserve it, despite its plans to demolish its surroundings. When it became a museum, Broxtowe Council decided that she would make a good first curator, and it was she who built up the collection and helped make Eastwood a destination for literary tourists. Enid Goodband eventually retired from that job and died in 2016 at the age of 91, but not before she had asserted that ‘The old feelings [of hostility towards Lawrence] are dying as the older generation dies.’ The Lawrence birthplace is a fitting memorial to her efforts. The surrounding area remains as evidence of how the housing legislation of the 1960s and 1970s led to historic areas being kept that would otherwise have been demolished, as local authorities gradually learned to take account of the wishes of their residents. John Perry worked as a town planner for Broxtowe Council in the 1970s and subsequently led the inner-city renewal programme for Leicester City Council. Currently he is policy adviser to the Chartered Institute of Housing, working remotely from Nicaragua. Cottages in Princes Street after renovation (Photo: Martin Froggatt, Wikimedia)

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