Archbishop calls for a new strategy

'Stop inner-city rot
by Jonathan Petre
A TOTALLY new strategy is needed if the deterioration of inner cities is to be countered, Archbishop Derek Worlock of Liverpool said last week.
In a strong speech at the annual conference of the Institute of Housing in Harrogate on Thursday, the Archbishop said that a number of cities would soon be facing a similar financial crisis to that in Liverpool.
"No authority can use up its reserves and resources unless there is a reasonable hope of replenishment later; ratecapping and further cuts provide no such assurance."
The Archbishop argued that poor housing was not the only reason for.the growing number of alienated people; the factors were lack of employment, bad education and the rundown of services.
"To understand alienation it is necessary to appreciate that they are all connected. Any one of them can provide an incident to serve as a flash-point in the explosive situation which exists".
He continued; "We are not dealing with an interesting social phenomenon, but with alienated people for whom the degree of their social deprivation has destroyed hope. Despairing of any real say in the way they have to live, and feeling rejected or ignored by those who have the direction of their destiny, they have no wish to have any part with the persons, roles and structures from whom or from which they feel excluded."
Referring to the controversial rate-capping proposals, Archbishop Worlock appealed to the Government to recognise particularly hard-hit areas as special cases. "the long and short of the matter is that the scale of the housing crisis is such that it cannot begin to be contained, let alone reversed, without a net increase in the housing programme of public expenditure."
He went on to refer to Bishop Cahal Daly of Belfast who wrote in his Lent pastoral letter earlier this year: "It has taken generations to build a sense of neighbourliness and community in many streets and localities. This is a precious and human value which should receive high rating from planners. If older streets had been refurbished and retained at an earlier stage, we might have averted much of the squalor and avoided the vandalism and violence we have now."
Expanding on this argument, Archbishop Worlock said: "Somehow the members of the community must be drawn into some form of partnership if their confidence is to be regained and if they are to value and respect what is provided."
The Archbishop proposed that a new strategy should involve "co-operation across boundaries". "The housing problem in the inner cities is not solely one of massive new construction and better design; or even rehabilitation and infilling.
"It is housing management and allocation. It is maintenance and repair. It is recognition of special needs. it is recognition of related services, infra-structure and environment — social services, education, transport, shopping, recreation; and of course it is recognition of the importance of employment and of the dignity which comes with it.
"It is co-operation across boundaries of departments of State and local government; of public and private sectors; of commercial and non-profit making interests. It is true partnership."