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Embracing the agenda as leaders of ‘places', local authorities do have a useful tool up their sleeves in turning potential eyesores into assets. As we are all aware, derelict and dilapidated buildings can be disfiguring, and can very quickly become magnets for wider social issues in towns and neighbourhoods in the form of vandalism and anti-social behaviour. The useful tool we have been using to unlock these issues in Allerdale, spotted by the housing services team, is a piece of legislation which offers a simple legal tool to intervene, known as Section 79 of the Building Act 1984. Section 79 requires an owner to deal with a building which is in a ruinous or dilapidated state of repair, either by renovation or demolition, and also provides powers for the council to undertake the works, if the owner will not, and to recover the costs. The owner could also be prosecuted for not acting on a legal notice. Within Allerdale and West Cumbria, we have improved large areas of housing, and regenerated communities using external funding and general improvement and renewal areas activity. However, a few dozen, long-term empty and dilapidated buildings were blighting their surrounding areas, demoralising local residents and diminishing the effect of the significant public and private investment. Using this tool, prominent buildings across the area have been tackled and, where needed, the local authority has demolished the building with the bill for the demolition costs sent to, and paid by, the owner. In Allerdale, there are currently 149 identified long-term empty, dilapidated buildings and sites as part of our programme. There are more than this, but these are the ones prioritised by our residents. We have successfully dealt with 89 properties over the past decade, and recent successes include old post office buildings, former railway stations, and redundant brewery buildings. Of the 89 properties, 49 were tackled using Section 79. This truly has been a useful tool in our box to create sustainable communities and desirable localities. We know our communities no longer have to look at eyesores but now have regenerated and improved local assets. Gillian Bishop is chief executive of Allerdale DC

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WHITEHALL

District View

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