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A recent report 'Great Expectations' celebrated Housing Market Renewal as a shining example of an 'evidence based policy' that had been 'informed' by social science and social scientists. Last year, two residents (Elizabeth Pascoe and Elijah Debnam) spoke at the RGS / IBG about their bitter experience of social science informed 'evidence based policy'. They have both been fighting the CPOs that has been served on their homes in the name of social science and social scientists. Elijah - a world war veteran - has been very ill this year with all the stress that the CPO has caused him. And this week Elizabeth was finally defeated in the high court. The emails below are from Sylvia Wilson and Elizabeth Pascoe. They put the debate about policy relevance, across the social sciences, into its appropriate context. It is a story of deaths, illness, despair and loss - and all in the name of social science. Coincidentally, I received (yet more threatening) correspondence this week from one of the researchers that has informed the architecture of housing market renewal. He was writing to let me know that he and 'others' had had a good laugh at an article that I published warning of the dangers of social science because the understandings it produces are so often so distant from the lives of people like Elizabeth and Elijah. So there you go - one side cries with despair whilst the other side has a good laugh. Chris Allen and Lee Crookes >>> Sylvia Wilson <[log in to unmask]> 25/03/2009 02:09 >>> Fellow Hutties, It is with great sadness and yes, almost despair, that I tell you now, that Fellow Huttie Elizabeth Pascoe has lost her final case for Edge Lane West, Liverpool! This is a crushing blow for every one of us fighting to save everything that we believe in and hold dear... a simple roof over our heads and the right to live our lives in homes the way we want, when we want, how we want and not under the false aspirations of Councils, Pathfinder or Government who wanted to deal with a Housing Market Restructuring rather that a Nationwide Refurbishment Project, which has been ignored for the last 15 - 20 years! Altering the house prices on and within the Housing Market in 2003 has them all now by the short and curlie's doesn't it... I hope it hurts, because it is hurting us the Communities far more... and has been for the last 6 years! This warrior has fought a true battle with greatly uneven odds to save her home and streets, Liverpool's history and heritage, and her very livelihood against a Council and a Government that cares nothing for the people who pay their (exorbitant) wages, she has helped fight for the homes and livelihoods of others too, and has been ignored by Councils, Government, Brussels (Human Rights) and by our own laws, that have been conveniently changed by Government to fit "their crimes" to relieve the humble folk of this land of what they own, and make paupers of them! My heart and soul burns with indignation that we pay the councils and government our taxes, and they in turn use our monies to pay expensive Barristers and Solicitors to fight against us, and we have to find help, usually from Legal Aid or Pro Bono Solicitors or Barristers to obtain redress, talk about the "Poor House" and "Poor Institutions" of the 18th and early 19th century... this is so unfair, and we can't even claim Equality of Arms, and as yet have not heard of any case who have won on Human Rights outright - (unless it was so blatant and mixed in with other issues)! There is no such thing in this 21st century, of people being equal anymore, (not that it ever was, but at least we were getting there) there is no such thing as democracy, and in my opinion our government has turned into a dictatorship! I will be with you again on this issue in a couple of days... too late tonight to complete this and tomorrow I'm out of Town... Elizabeths email below: Begin forwarded message: > Fr> ... as soon as I got out of court. Please, you all have to leave me > quiet for a while, I am too drained. Sorry I didn't here... > London... mention you and hutties, or my website, I realise now I > should, I am pushing myself to tie up loose ends now! > > As apparently everyone will know by now, I lost today. > It was very close. The proponent barristers were not in the least > confident before hearing today's judgement. > I can't consider an appeal (as was said on the news may happen so > the taxi driver just told me) partly as half my income is from > overseas university student lodgers, and it simply isn't fair to > take on new ones for next year when these leave at the end of this > academic year when I can't promise them a full year, or even part. > In all it has cost me over £40,000 to fight this last 4 years, and > all the lodger money pays for the borrowing I needed (as that was > how I funded it). > I have no contingency plan, it was a fight "to the death" as far as > I was concerned. It has to be up to others now, younger than I, to > fight for "the future", against the insanity of mindless > consumerism, obviously damaging the planet and society, not just > our built heritage, and the sort of hype that tells us what is > being done is progress. > My conscience is clear. I tried. I fear greatly for what our > grandchildren will inherit. Hopefully sense will prevail before it > is too late. > We had a good judge, who knew his onions, my lawyers were > "committed" (I know did many all-night efforts, not all lawyers are > merely mercenaries / merely mercenary). This time (unlike last) > there was no "technical" remedy in law. As quangos become ever > more powerful and ever less accountable alongside increasingly > "joined up" I (and so many others who know) fear it will be > virtually impossible for anyone to "have a voice". > I must thank all of my over 70 witnesses, about half of whom > attended the Inquiry at their own expense (representing Oxford, > Cambridge, London School of Economics, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool > Uni, John Moore's Uni, Hope Uni and several others) and from Save > Britain's Heritage, Save our City, Merseyside Civic Society, and > especially my right hand man architect Dai Gwynne, statutory > objector, and my left hand IT man Mark Shooter, whose mother > another statutory objector was the first of me neighbours / friends > to die thanks to the additional stress, and SO many others, most of > whom had also to burn the candle at both ends to fight in their day- > jobs, families, own problems, and helping with this. As "the wider > public" know, despite the "stakeholders' rhetoric" the support I > have had has been almost universal both in this city and across the > nation (and in fact in the 60 or so nations from which my "old" > students this last 14 years have come). > As I see it the battle is like housework. We don't ever "get > anywhere" but my goodness it is so much worse if we don't try. I > gave it my best shot. There is an outstanding issue brought to my > attention by various professional civic design colleagues to which > I have alerted "Europe" about regarding "state aid" which may be > able to identify that funding supposedly to help poor communities > is being hijacked to "decant" them into oblivion. > Media-persons I don't know what else I could say that people would > want to hear. Maybe what I have said is "inappropriate" and could > "cause me trouble" (besides losing my home and half my income! and > costing me 4 years of my life). Use what you feel is of interest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SAVE THE HONEY BEEs! Honey bees are essential to mankind's survival, our very lives depend on this tiny creature, without them this Planet would die! Einstein said that... "if the bees go, then humans will go four years later...!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ferengdeclare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies. Sylvia Wilson Coordinator: Homes Under Threat (HUT) Network. Secretary: Whitefield Conservation Action Group. 16 Kensington Street. Springbank, NELSO. Lancashire. BB9 7DQ. 01282 604749 [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/AC/1H/HV/HM Department of Sociology Manchester Metropolitan University Geoffrey Manton Building Rosamond Street West MANCHESTER M15 6LL UNITED KINGDOM + 44 (0)161 247 6170 http://www.sociology.mmu.ac.uk/ NEW BOOK: Housing Market Renewal and Social Class http://tinyurl.com/28w5pu Find out more about the struggle against housing market renewal here: http://www.fightforourhomes.com/ Read the IJURR debate on The Eviction of Critical Perspectives from Gentrification Research here: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/ijur/32/1 Before acting on this email or opening any attachments you should read the Manchester Metropolitan University's email disclaimer available on its website http://www.mmu.ac.uk/emaildisclaimer