Emboldened County Durham residents have served the council with a legal challenge in a desperate bid to save their homes from demolition.
Durham County Council were yesterday (January 23) served with papers from lawyers representing Horden neighbours, who are hoping to overturn £10.7m plans approved by the authority last month.
Despite fierce opposition, 112 homes on Third and Fifth Street in the former mining town are set to be reduced to rubble as part of the regeneration project to build 105 new homes.
But in a last-ditch attempt, a number of those still living in the homes marked for demolition have invested thousands to fund a legal battle, as the council say they will "review and consider this challenge".
One resident involved in the battle is Ray Bellingham, 68, who alongside sister Moira, have lived in their Third Street home since they were children.
He is hoping the legal challenge can overturn the council's plans in their entirety, as the siblings "don't want to move".
He told The Northern Echo: "It has been a hectic ten days - it has been non-stop all the time.
"If other people were in the same position as us, they would realise what pressure we are under. We are trying to save our homes.
"Other people are not in the position of having bulldozers take their homes away from them."
The Horden masterplan scheme was first announced in 2019, has been branded a "catalyst for change", spurred on by one in ten homes standing empty and boarded up, and the area is plagued by anti-social behaviour.
As previously reported, plans involve building on green space on the already-demolished Fourth Street site, with two-, three-, and four-bed homes and two-bed bungalows to be built as social housing.
Residents who will lose their homes will be put at the top of the list for new social housing - but for Ray and others, moving is not an option they want to entertain and a fundraiser has also been set up to help with legal costs.
He added: "Even if we were offered a new house, we are still faced with a situation where we would be leaving our home of 60 years into a rental situation.
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"They could offer us a mansion, a palace, a million pounds, and we would not move. It's not just a house to us, it's 60 years of home life.
"It's all we have ever known. We don't want to move."
Stephen Reed, Durham County Council’s planning manager, said: "We can confirm that we have been served a legal challenge over the plans for Third Street, Fourth Street and Fifth Street in Horden.
"We will review and consider this challenge in line with the appropriate processes."
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