Demolition crew have finally moved in to start tearing down the Deans South ‘ghost estate’ – 18 years after private and rented homes were condemned.
An excavator grab was busy pulling down the Siporex concrete roof panels that led to the houses being deemed unfit, and the flimsy roofing felt was clear to see as it was pulled away from the superstructure of the building.
As Kerry Mackintosh watched her home being torn apart there were a few tears, as well as happiness that things were finally starting to move forward to a new home.
But there was also anger.
As the house was pulled apart so were years of official excuses, of bad housing design and housing management, of what had been sold to hopeful families as the town of tomorrow.
“You can see how badly built they were. It’s shocking” said Kerry, watching the demolition team at work.
“If a fire had broken out we’d have been dead. West Lothian Council has a lot to answer for.”
Livingston Development Corporation (LDC) was known in the building trade as Leaks Dampness and Condensation for its favoured use of flat roof designs in Craigshill, and other areas as Livingston, built on rolling farmland in the 1960s.
It’s a tale that could be told across Scotland as councils and the new development corporations bought into ideas that might have worked in sunnier climes, and which they wanted to believe could work here as well.
LDC built Deans South using Siporex roof blocks, a now discredited form of aerated concrete.
Watching the house come down you could see the simplistic construction. Concrete slabs topped with roofing felt – not far from the kind you would see on a garden shed or wooden garage.
You could see too the damage wrought by the weather on neighbouring homes, water streaked wallpaper exposed to the elements for the first time.
Houses that have been shuttered for more than a decade have rotted from the inside.
Sad remnants of happier times still adorned some of the walls in the homes being broken apart. A star shaped lamp. A poster torn from a magazine.
The excavator took just four hours to reduce Kerry’s home to rubble.
As Kerry photographed and took video footage on her phone there was the occasional cry out as a wall was torn out or a door plucked from a shattered room.
The floor joists sounded like dry twigs cracking underfoot in the November sunshine as the excavator grab pulled them from the skeleton of the building.
The demolition had been scheduled for Monday but was delayed at the last minute for asbestos checks.
Asked about finally watching the work she had waited 18 years to see, Kerry admitted it was “heartbreaking.”
She said: “Sometimes I didn’t think we would see this.
“Springfield gave us hope, I knew they wouldn’t let us down. I didn’t think I would be on this side of the fence watching my house getting knocked down it’s just weird.”
Springfield Partnerships Managing Director, Tom Leggeat, said: “It has been a long journey for the residents of Deans South, that pre-dates our involvement on the site and we understand that the demolition of these properties marks a milestone moment for many.
“This will be transformational for the residents of Deans South, who deserve the energy efficient, high-quality homes that we are looking forward to delivering.”
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