WORRIED residents of a 495-property housing estate last night spoke of their fears over a regeneration scheme which could see their homes bulldozed.

Social landlord Livin has announced its preferred option for Newton Aycliffe's Western Area is to demolish the existing houses and build the estate again from scratch.

It says a continuing consultation exercise will give residents the chance to share their views on the redevelopment, but both tenants and home-owers have raised grave concerns at the prospect of demolition.

Worries include the upheaval for residents, particularly the elderly, loss of investment made in properties and a potential inability to afford a like-for-like property on the same estate or elsewhere.

Livin tenant Derick Sutton, 72, moved to Kirkstone Place with his 70-year-old wife only two years ago for retirement.

He said: "The thought of moving again fills us with dread. The physical thing of packing and loading into vans, then unpacking and fitting new carpets etc, the thought of it is awful.

"Two years ago we found it very stressful and exhausting, now the thought of doing it all again is not something my wife and I can contemplate."

Great Aycliffe Residents' Association is campaigning against any future demolition, and is seeking assurances that as well as home-owners being protected, social housing provision will not be reduced.

Chairman Syd Howarth said: "They have made it their neighbourhood, have improved their houses and [home-owners] have bought it with the right to buy.

"A lot of them are quite elderly, and in their time of life when they don't want that upheaval. We're supporting them and are hoping to get the right information and safeguards to alleviate their concerns."

Last year Livin set up the Western Area Regeneration Project after receiving £285,000 from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to develop a new plan for the estate, which encompasses Silverdale, Langdale, Eskdale, Kirkstone, Whinlatter and Honister Place.

Since then residents have been given the opportunity by its consultation partner, the Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP), to offer their views on what they currently like and do not like about the estate and what they would like to see in the future.

Initially the residents were given three options to consider; the first was to improve the existing homes and facilities; the second was to improve properties and build new homes on open spaces; and the third was to rebuild the estate with a new layout and design.

Option three was settled on by Livin, which claims it is the most viable in delivering what is wanted by the community.

A 33-year-old home-owner, who did not wish to be named, said the idea of losing his home and made him "sick to his stomach".

He said: "I bought it no more than 13 months ago. At that time I spent around £5,000 fixing it up and have only two months ago spent £5,420 on a new flat roof. As you can imagine I am livid at Livin’s plans of knocking it down."

Dave Catleugh, a Livin tenant, said: "Although the end result, in ten to 15 years time, will be a model estate which may be very nice for its residents, there is no guarantee that I will be one of them, or that I will get another house in the same area, or even on the same town."

Alan Boddy, executive director of operations for Livin, said: “Every aspect of the approach we have taken so far in developing a plan for this area has been done so with the involvement and support of the community.

“We are now working closely with all residents to develop a more detailed masterplan that if agreed will be used to attract the necessary funding required to make the plan a reality.

“We appreciate just how sensitive an issue regeneration is for the people who live on Western and we know that not everybody will be in favour of this.

"We are very aware that each resident has their own set of circumstances and our priority is to discuss and address any concerns with them individually.”

The organisation confirmed this week individual visits will be carried out to properties on the estate, made up of 495 properties, to discuss what the redevelopment will mean for them.