Nelson’s Mill Housing

A public inquiry into the proposed clearance of 400 terraced houses has highlighted the dilemma facing many local councils, particularly in the North West of England where regional planning bodies say at least 70,000 pre-1919 houses need to be cleared to regenerate deprived areas. The houses in question were built for cotton mill workers in the second half of the nineteenth century in the tiny Lancashire town of Nelson, one of a cluster of former mill towns that flourished in the damp valleys beneath Pendle Hill.

The mills may be gone, but English Heritage is backing local residents’ opposition to the plans because it believes the houses, mostly in private ownership, are of historic and architectural significance, and should be saved. Pendle Borough Council wants to replace the terraces with a staged development of new houses built to modern standards. The council, while acknowledging the upheaval and anxiety felt by the residents, insists that new build is the only way to regenerate an area where properties are changing hands for as little as £4,000.