ANGRY homeowners in Lochside’s Babbington Crescent say they will be “living in hell” from tomorrow when blocks of flats surrounding their houses are razed to the ground.Rab Clark, Gordon McKean and Douglas Burnside have made a last-minute plea to Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership (DGHP) to halt their plans to bulldoze the 113 houses and flats in central Lochside.“We are going to be living in the middle of a major demolition and construction site for the next two years and DGHP don’t care”, said 51-year-old Mr Clark.“We have asked them to consider buying our properties from us so that they owned the whole area, but they’re not interested.“Some of us work permanent nightshift and we’re dreading the work starting. How are we supposed to sleep with major work going on right outside our windows?“This project should be suspended until we can come to an agreement.“It will be like living in hell.”Mr McKean, 46, added: “If DGHP had approached us and made a realistic offer for our homes, we would have considered it. “We want this area regenerated, but not at the expense of our quality of life.“At the start, we were told we would be compensated for the noise and mess that will be caused, but they changed their minds because they don’t have the funds apparently.“My garden wall is four feet away from one of the blocks being demolished. That will have a major impact on my families lives.”“DGHP continually fob us off and it just seems crazy that they’ll knock down 113 flats and houses and leave the four that are privately owned.“They should have bought us out.“I’m dreading the noise and the mess, and who knows where the all the rats will end up.”Mr Clark’s neighbour Douglas Burnside, 59, also has concerns.“I’ve got an autistic four-year-old grandson who lives with us and we need to keep our car at the door for emergencies all the time. But we don’t even know how we’re going to get access into the street because they are fencing off the top of the road.“As well as devaluing our properties, they will also look out of place surrounded by brand new homes.“I don’t understand why DGHP don’t buy our homes and take down the whole lot.”However, a DGHP spokeswoman said they have no intention of purchasing any more properties in the area. She said: “We are currently investing £77 million to transform and improve the area. We do not intend to purchase any more properties at this time.“What we will be doing, however, is working closely with homeowners and we will be constantly monitoring the works and progress on site. “While this will be a building site, all work will be restricted to normal working hours. If there is any work that would directly disrupt homeowners (roads in front of their property for example), our contractors will be writing out to them to inform them of this.“Work to homeowners properties boundary fences will be carried out during the works, and this was all explained during our recent consultation.“The plans for regeneration in this area have been in the pipeline for some time now and we have fully consulted with all concerned.”Read
