Defeat for residents in compulsory purchase battle
Oldham residents have lost their appeal against the compulsory purchase of their homes for a regeneration project.
The Court of Appeal rejected the case against compulsory purchase orders which will allow Oldham Council to demolish vacant properties in the Derker area and replace them with new homes.
Most residents agreed to move, with 430 selling their homes to the council, and 18 still negotiating. The appeal court’s decision means the remaining 20 households that have resisted the CPOs must now leave their properties.
Jackie Stanton, a Derker resident and Liberal Democrat member of Oldham Council, said: ‘The regeneration of Derker must now continue. I have huge sympathy for the last residents who don’t want to move on and I’m also concerned about their safety, as they are living in mostly empty rows of vacant properties.
‘It is vital that the court’s decision allows the regeneration to progress.’
The residents had appealed over a High Court ruling made in December 2008 about the secretary of state’s decision to confirm the CPO. However, the Court of Appeal dismissed this claim.
Derker resident Peter Hibberd, 59, said: ‘It’s time to move forward because we are fed up of living among streets of boarded up houses.
‘I welcome the demolition that has been carried out over the last year, which has made a difference, but we now need to see the regeneration continue with new houses. That won’t happen if there are more court cases, so I hope this will be the end of it.’
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