Last updated 17:45, Sunday, 18 May 2008

THE £7 million regeneration of Maryport’s Victory Crescent began in spectacular style.

• Watch a video clip....

Victory Crescent residents, l-r: Lucy Birkett, Phyllis Newton and Colin Birkett.

Two Short Acres houses were knocked down, signalling the start of a project that will see 40 houses in the area demolished and 60 new ones built.

The flat-top properties that were erected after the Second World War, with a life expectancy of only 20 years, will be replaced by 44 houses and 16 bungalows.

The mix was chosen by residents. Home, the housing group responsible for the development, also gave the residents the choice of lifetime guaranteed rental, part ownership, shared equity or outright purchase.

Tuesday was a day of mixed emotions for the small crowd who came to watch the demolition of the first two houses.

The second to go was recently closed down after being identified as a crack house which had been the subject of numerous complaints.

Phyllis Newton, 85, is one of the estate’s longest residents, having lived there for 50 years.

She said she was looking forward to moving into her new home on the estate, once it is built, after seeing a similar scheme in Ulverston on a recent fact-finding trip organised by Home for the residents.

“If it’s anything like Ulverston then it will be beautiful,” she added.

Her neighbours Colin and Lucy Birkett joined her to watch the demolition.

Colin, 71, said: “We’re getting a bungalow in the next block to be demolished.

“It took just over 10 minutes to knock down - it wouldn’t be so bad if they could build another one in 10 minutes instead of 12 months.”

Chris Potts, development manager for Home, said the demolition had been a huge success in paving the way for the future.

He said: “There’s been a lot of work put in to get to this point but this is the real physical start for some people.

“It’s going to make a massive difference to people’s lives. They are so excited that the ball is rolling and it’s not going to stop.”

Plans for the redevelopment of the area were put on show in the house where John Sharkey, 61, and his sister Maureen Ross, 68, grew up.

Reminiscing about his days playing football with other kids on the green and the whole estate coming together for a street party to celebrate the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, John said: “It was a real community where everyone looked out for one another.

“I absolutely loved it here when I was a kid - the days weren’t long enough.

“It will be a sad day when I see my mam’s house getting knocked down but you’ve got to move on.”

The Green was the centre of the community according to Margaret Jackson who is believed to have been the first baby to have been born in the new houses, in 1944.

She lived there until she married 44 years ago.

Rita McNichol, 67, arrived in Victory Crescent in 1942 and Peter Keogh was two years old when he arrived in 1947.

They talked about the sense of community - and the fact that the houses were never built for warmth!

Six houses were to be demolished this week and Mr Potts said he hoped work on the foundations for the first new house would begin next month.

The other houses should be taken down in 2009-2010 if approval is given.

The project is due to be completed in 2011.