Thaindian News

London, Apr 20 (ANI): Beatles member Ringo Starr’s Liverpool birthplace has been saved after the government stepped-in to block its demolition.

In a dramatic 11th hour move, Housing Minister Grant Shapps imposed special restrictions on the plans to flatten 9 Madryn Street and 200 other terraced homes.

Beatles fans praised the decision to stop planning chiefs sending in bulldozers without permission from the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Starr’s old home is threatened with destruction along with two hundred homes in the ‘Welsh Streets’ in the city’s Dingle area.

Councillors on Liverpool’s planning committee dismissed impassioned pleas and voted in favour of demolition, but Shapps thwarted them by imposing a legal block on their move.

He said there must be consideration to whether an Environmental Impact Assessment is required - a move that could mean a delay of 12 months or more.

The move came in an email and letter received less than 24 hours before the planning committee was due to consider the scheme.

There had been a heated discussion during the Planning Committee meeting at Liverpool Town Hall, as arguments for and against the demolition were heard.

“The councillors who voted for demolition are nothing short of civic vandals,” the Daily Mail quoted chairman of the Save Madryn Street campaign Philip Coppell as saying.

“Number 9 Madryn Street is irreplaceable. It’s a precious piece of Beatles history and of vital importance to the city and its growing tourism industry.

“Thank God the Government has stopped the mindless town hall wreckers from turning the Ringo’s birthplace into a shameful vacant lot.

“Beatles fans all over the world are heaving a huge sigh of relief and it gives real hope to the sensible majority in Liverpool who are opposed to this pig-headed scheme.

“The Government must now ensure that Ringo’s old house is preserved and the rest of the Welsh Streets renovated and turned into attractive low-cost homes,” Coppell stated.

But a Welsh Street resident has not met the government’s move with favour.

“I’m angry there is going to be more delay. This move by the Government means more suffering for people like me who are left to live in these sub-standard houses,” Mary Mantle, of Treborth Street said.

“I don’t believe they can be renovated at an economic price. They’re riddled with damp and have got no foundations.

“The area is blighted and the only way out for us is demolition and building the new homes that we were promised,” she added. (ANI)