News Beat
We face being homeless by CHRISTMAS after council vowed to bulldoze our homes
HOMEOWNERS face being left homeless in the run up to Christmas as they are being kicked out by the council so their homes can be demolished.
Residents have been ordered to leave so their properties can be bulldozed before they collapse into the sea.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council have advised they will begin demolishing multiple properties along the coast due to erosion.
Residents have said at least eight households face being left homeless by the plans.
But the council have said that it is crucial for it to work with the community in a planned and managed way to avoid the risk of properties collapsing on to the beach.
Resident Pascal Rose said: “It’s absolutely heart-breaking. I’ve worked all my life and I thought I’d secured my future. I bought the property outright and renovated her to my standard.
“I feel like I’m now being bullied into signing this voluntary demolition form otherwise I’m going to miss out on the deals offered to me.
“With compensation, nothing has been put in writing. They will just not commit to saying ‘We’re definitely going to do this for you’.
“I’ve got to a point where they’re trying to make it like I haven’t got a choice. I have to hope the council is going to have to give me rollback land or compensation.
“I still come up here every day to see how she is, make sure no one’s broken into her.”
Ms Rose registered herself homeless after she was verbally told by the council that her home was at risk of demolition.
She also asked for support from the homeless department at GYBC and said she was offered a room.
However she has a tea-cup, disabled chihuahua and was told it would cost £20 a night to accommodate her pet – or £560 a month.
She added: “There’s no guarantee I would even be homed afterwards.
“It’s been battle after battle.”
Eleven properties along The Marrams in Hemsby, Norfolk, have been highlighted as at risk and face being bulldozed this week.
A few residents still living along the clifftop have been contacted by Great Yarmouth Borough Council and asked to sign a waiver for voluntary demolition.
The council said teams have highlighted several windows of time where demolition is possible and one of these windows is next week – but that most homes are vacant or derelict.
The move comes just two months after some residents in The Marrams were handed advisory notices from the council suggesting they should move out.
No formal notice of condemnation was given at the time.
Locals say this is the first time they have been given a date following officials assessing their houses as being at imminent risk of collapse.
Carol Boyes, 80, who has lived in her house for 35 years, previously told the BBC: “I’m hoping I’m going to be here for Christmas.
“But the way things are going at the moment I can’t see it happening [and] I’ve got no Plan B at the moment if this all goes.
“They have phoned me because of the bad weather but no-one’s come near me and I’m left to my own devices.
“So I’m just going to stick it out to the end and see what happens [but] we’re all going to lose out down here.”
Simon Measures, who lives next door to Mrs Boyes, is the chairman of the Save Hemsby Coastline group.
Save Hemsby Coastline have strived to raise public awareness of the coastal erosion plight and are working to raise funds for sea defences in the area.
Mr Measures said: “The amount of support you get from the housing officer and the homelessness office teams is pretty minimal.
“They have to do the best they can with what they’ve got but we’re in the middle of a housing crisis.
“A number of residents feel like they’re being bullied into voluntarily signing over their properties for demolition.
“They feel like they’re being high-pressured into taking the deal offered by the council.
Save Hemsby Coastline have also said the value increase between land with planning permission and that without it would be retained by Great Yarmouth Borough Council and this would allow them to buy additional land and continue this process as more properties are identified as at risk of erosion.
One homeowner, Eric Forbes, 60, said: “There’s 11 of us, we’ve got coastal erosion on our homes.
“The guy in charge of the erosion project, has decided to have all 11 homes demolished before Christmas.
“Myself and 11 others. It’s pretty likely, very likely.
“He won’t let us stay in it until after Christmas. Eight of the 11 homes will be made homeless.
“I’ve got other options, but there’s people walking around in tears. These homes are owned by us.
“I’ve lived there three years, some people have lived there 14 years. For some people it’s houses that have been passed down by generations.”
Great Yarmouth Borough Council said it is not legally possible for it to compensate homeowners at risk of erosion.
But the council can make payments for the lose of the land on which the properties stood and planning permission could be transferred to other plots.
The existing homeowner would receive approximately £5,000 for the planning rights but there is no free land or homes offered to those at risk of demolished homes.
The GYBC spokesman told The Sun: “Last-minute evacuations – something which is extremely stressful and upsetting for those involved, is a public danger and a pollution risk.
“‘That is why we have been liaising with owners about the demolition of several properties most at risk. Since some demolition would need to take place from the beach, with limited timeframes when there are favourable tides, our teams have highlighted several windows of time where demolition is possible. One of these windows to carry out the work is next week.
“‘The damage caused to the dunes at Hemsby by the recent Storms Amy, Benjamin and Claudia, is a stark reminder of the importance of working with the community in this carefully planned way.’’
