Grand Designs: The Streets

[itsnotmeitsu]

Watching this tonight. It's filmed in York and at one point in the programme we could see our house on the boundary. This development has 165 properties being built on what used to to be a school site and playing field. Seeing the wildlife that used this site was wonderful before it became a concreted over area, when we already have flooding problems in York. We used to be able to look out of our living room across the field and watch the foxes. Now we have a fence and property about 10 feet from the window which means we cannot see anything other than the fence and the building on that side of the house.

And...?

What a shame OP. I would be gutted if that happened where I live too.

We hadn't known about the filming in York so it was a surprise to learn they'd been filming just around the corner. Seen the houses in reality now and they're a lot smaller than you realise when you see them on television. Then again most of the properties built by the developer are shoeboxes so I suppose the self-builds couldn't be built to an extent they'd absolutely dwarf the rest. Building work is still going on there so they must film the programme over a very long period, as there was something shown taking place in 2021. The development first started going up in 2019, and we're still living with it on the doorstep. It'll be interesting to see the end result.

This
It's annoying when you start losing lovely countryside but it was no doubt zoned residential long before any building started

There are massive building projects all around where we live. The land used is farmland. The builds begin and then they expand and expand taking up farmers fields which used to be a part of the beauty of the area.
Yes - I know people need houses. On these sites are a mixture of very expensive homes and homes taken by housing associations for low income families.
I am in North Leeds. One of these builds encroaches on a housing development that has been there for many years. The houses that were originally bought had the benefit of lovely views. Those views are no more since the new houses back right up to the boundary fences. The land around has parts that were only good for farming because of historical flooding. Houses have been built there so I wonder how they managed to do that?
I don't live there btw.
My friend's daughter was offered a house on this estate by a housing association. She is a single parent and was overjoyed to be so lucky. The little house is perfect in every way but for one thing - her neighbours.
The street is a mix of housing association properties and private homes. Some of the people who bought are having to sell because living there is becoming a hell on earth.
The housing association people shout at each other and fight in the street. They keep dogs in their back gardens but when the children leave the gates open they escape and terrorise the place.
One man and his wife scream obscenities at each other, bang doors and keep families in the adjoining houses awake at night. The police attend and remove the man but he returns next day.
Other neighbours party at the weekend, playing music all night. Their guests drive their cars over other residents gardens, they break glass which is left next morning for the children who play on the street.
Cars are scratched, plants are stolen, children of all ages roam the estate looking for mischief because the development is isolated and there is nothing for them to do
There are no shops nearby and if you do not have a car you must use a bus to go to school or the shops or the doctor. These people are removed from their families and friends. I suppose when you are desperate for somewhere to live it seems like a dream to these people but the reality of this is that they are displaced just like refugees
It is as if the build is king and the people who may live there are merely an accessory and their essential needs are not served at all.
There is no sense of community here.

Coming to live here must have seemed like a good idea at the time but now some of these people are looking to exchange and go back to the estates they came from as they do not fit in here and cause disruption.
My friend's daughter has a child who has learned rude words from playing out on the safe street (away from the main road) but not safe from the very people they live near to.
When she moved in here we all told her how pleased we were for her. Now I am thinking she was handed a poisoned chalice.
And as for the people who bought ?? It is a nightmare.

watched last night, we have Craven hill near us which was the first such development very interesting to hear the personal accounts from those of you who live near. what to do about the problems I don't know. Anyone know Kevin ? he needs to go back and see how people are living because of the failures in infrastructure .