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‘Stupid’ demolition

18/ 8/2004

A BLOCK of flats evacuated to make way for the Metrolink will still be bulldozed - even though the government has pulled the plug on expanding the tram system.

Elderly residents were forced to leave 24 flats in Wellington Road in Ashton because the block was in the way of the proposed tram stop due to serve the town.

The move has been branded a waste of money - but transport chiefs say cash for the demolition is already committed and it would now be too expensive to salvage the flats.

Residents were so upset at having to leave their homes and break up their community that they asked to have the freshly-built New Charter development in Crickets Lane named Wellington Court.

Former resident Maureen Consiglio, 62, fought the proposals for 10 years.

She said: "It was a lot of upheaval, particularly for the older residents - two of them are in their nineties and a lot are in their eighties. Two of the ladies had been in those flats for 40 years.

"We were unhappy about having to move, but we didn't have a choice because we were told Metrolink was coming."

Ashton MP David Heyes said: "This is a really good example of how stupid this decision to abandon the Metrolink halfway along. The residents had a good sense of community and looked after each other in an old fashioned way. It is a tragedy they had to move on."