Councillor regrets decision to demolish and not renovate 100 houses.
A multi-million pound project to demolish and rebuild homes on a Grimsby street was a mistake because it was too expensive, a councillor said.
Four years ago North East Lincolnshire councillor Steve Beasant voted for 100 houses on Guildford Street to be pulled down and 51 new homes to be built.
But now, while construction work is under way, he says the homes should have been refurbished instead.
The council said demolition would lead to “higher quality” properties.
The exact cost of the development of Guildford Street, which is part of a wider £8m regeneration of the East Marsh area, is yet to be released by the Labour-controlled council.
North East Lincolnshire Council said the cost of buying the 100 properties was £4.57m, with an additional £294,000 spent on their demolition.
Mr Beasant, a Lib Dem councillor for the East Marsh ward, said there was a “great deal of cost involved in pulling down” the terraced houses in addition to the rebuild costs, which would have been saved if the properties were improved instead.
Read more here.
