Demolition

As Drake House tumbled, two blocks of the estate’s Milldane cluster were also demolished. These received the main focus of local and media attention, not least because a popular public house nestled in the shadow of one of the units. The pub escaped with hardly a scratch.

Drake House was generally liked by its residents. Conveniently placed for shops and public transport, the building was in good condition and only halfway through its practical life. At the invitation of a group challenging the proposal to demolish, some students at the city’s School of Architecture drew up innovative plans to reconfigure Drake’s floor layouts for improved accommodation and mixed use.

However, this was a time when the Hull City Council was under increasing pressure from Central Government to reduce its social housing stock. A citizens’ jury was set up to debate the issue of demolition (mainly of Drake House), but the decision had already been made. At noon that July day, a lot of addresses were removed forever.

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Vernon House was originally to be demolished together with Drake House and the two Milldane blocks in 2002. As residents were being rehoused, and with D-Day approaching, it was realised that no arrangements had been made for resiting the complex of communications antennae that covered the roof of the building and which provided lease income. As a result of this expensive oversight, the tower block was not demolished until Sunday 27th June, 2004.

Completed in the late 1960s, the Homethorpe blocks were given names during a refurbishment programme around the early 1990s. Also, controlled entry and a 24-hour concierge service were introduced. Vernon acquired a concentration of tenants, many of them young, who were barely or inadequately prepared for accepting social responsibilities. The Council’s housing allocations policy must be regarded as a factor, but the reputation of Vernon House was perhaps sealed by the local media’s regular and unhelpful attachment of the adjective ‘notorious’ to the name whenever an incident was reported.

The demolition of Orchard Park’s remaining four high-rise and three midi blocks now appears certain. According to the Council, it is cheaper to demolish these buildings than to refurbish them to the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. A small number of tower blocks elsewhere in the city, improved under past programmes, will remain. For better or worse, Orchard Park looks set to lose completely its defining skyline.

Following the cancellation late last year of the housing PFI programme and a change of political majority in the May 2011 local elections, there is now the possibility that five blocks will escape demolition. The option would return homes to the stock available for rent and save the Council the cost of clearance.

Following a Hull City Council Cabinet meeting held 20 December 2011, the midi blocks at Gorthorpe, Kinthorpe and Laxthorpe together with the Highcourt high-rise will be reviewed as regards their future. The Ashthorpe high-rise block and the remaining blocks at Homethorpe and Milldane are to be demolished in 2012.

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