A popular project to demolish rows of long-empty former colliery houses is transforming a County Durham town, thanks to Labour councillors.
The terraced houses in the Dean Bank area of Ferryhill, County Durham, had stood empty for over 15 years and become a magnet for nuisance behaviour and fly-tipping, before housing association, Bernicia, agreed to pull down the properties in the spring of 2020.
The £1m project was welcomed by residents and local Labour councillor, Peter Atkinson, who had long campaigned for their removal. Cllr Atkinson then secured £100,000 from Durham County Council for landscaping the area cleared by the demolition.
“This has been such a vital project for the people in our community and a really important project for County Durham Labour,” said Cllr Atkinson.
“The Dean Bank homes were a blight on the area, and while they provided an emotional reminder of how important the collieries had been to Ferryhill’s past, they had long since served their purpose and become a dumping ground for fly-tippers and haven for vandals.
“Labour listens to the people who elect us, and we took the concerns of local residents fed-up of nuisance behaviour, to Bernicia, which owned the properties. The firm was fantastic and worked with local members to agree a programme of demolition for the former colliery homes.”
The six-month demolition project, during which 33 properties were torn down, was completed in February 2020.
The removal of the Dean Bank homes freed up a large tract of land and local members were determined it would become an area for community use. Cllr Atkinson worked with Cllr Carl Marshall, Durham County Council’s portfolio holder for economic regeneration, to secure £100,000 in funding to improve the area.
“We are just starting a landscaping programme that will create a haven for local people,” said Cllr Atkinson. “We have grassed over the cleared area, and next year, we begin a programme of planting that will see flower beds, shrubbery and new trees introduced.
“I’d like to thank Cllr Marshall for his support with this project, which is a real demonstration of what Labour can achieve when we work together for the good of our communities.”
Cllr Marshall said: “When our residents talk, we listen, and we act. These houses had become a stain on this area of Ferryhill and when people asked us to take action we did so quickly and decisively.
“Between the local Labour members, Bernicia and Durham County Council, we have secured an outcome that will benefit the community, but our work continues via the emerging town and villages programme, as well as the roll-out of our licensing scheme to regulate private landlords.”
During the demolition work, Bernicia preserved three remaining historical features from the brickwork on the front of houses. The ‘wake up slates’ or ‘knocky up boards’ were used by miners to chalk on the time they wanted to be woken by the ‘knocky up man’ to ensure they arrived on time for colliery shifts.
One of the slates was handed to Ferryhill Town Council and the others given to the Miners’ Institute at Dean Bank, Ferryhill, and the Mining Museum in Spennymoor respectively.
Gemma Alderson, housing services manager at Bernicia, said: “We’re delighted with the revamp of this part of Dean Bank, removing the derelict, boarded up houses has created a fantastic open space.
“Bernicia is proud to have played its part in revitalising the area, as well as preserving the town’s heritage by giving the boards a new home.”