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We’ll fight all the way to Europe!
WITH their homes under threat of demolition, a group of Hampshire pensioners have vowed to take their battle all the way to the top.
Determined not to go down without a fight, the elderly residents of Roxburgh House in Locks Heath will consider taking their plight to the European Court of Human Rights.
Outraged that they could soon be denied the right to spend their last years in their much-loved homes, they insist they will do whatever it takes to save that right.
As reported in the Daily Echo more than 30 residents, all aged 70 or over, face eviction from their sheltered housing in Saint Michael's Road.
Due to lack of demand for bedsits and the need for social housing, Hampshire Voluntary Housing Association (HVHA) were forced to review the building, which could see it demolished.
This uncertainty over the last two years has become unbearable for the close-knit residents who fear they will be separated.
Fareham MP Mark Hoban has already pledged to look into the situation in the hope of securing a decision that suits both parties.
But Anne Gething, 85, who moved to Roxburgh House two years ago, said: "This indecision is unfair to all of us who live here and we are here to tell them that they cannot move us around willy-nilly.
"I am ready to take this all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. Wouldn't you if it was your home under threat?
"We have two blind ladies here who can get around fine because they know where everything is so they are terrified that if they are moved they will be left stranded in their flats.
"We have a right to choose where we live and to stay in our homes, not be thrown out and separated at our time of life. It's a disgrace and very upsetting."
HVHA has said that Roxburgh House will be discussed at their next board meeting in July but cannot ensure a final decision will be made then.
They did confirm that demolition was an option.
2:42pm Monday 5th May 2008
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