Leader hails revamp's success

CRIME IS DOWN BY ALMOST 60% IN NORTH PROSPECT

- ALISON STEPHENSON

CRIME has reduced by nearly 60% in what used to be a “notorious” area of Plymouth after it was subject to the largest regeneration of its kind in the South West.

A meeting of Plymouth City Council cabinet heard that people are living longer in North Prospect, unemployment has dropped and incomes are increasing.

Eight hundred damp and poor quality homes were demolished and 1,100 new homes built in the regeneration which took 12 years and cost £130 million.

The area once known as ‘Swilly’ was one of the most deprived parts of the country in 2009 and plagued by anti-social behaviour.

According to Devon and Cornwall Police public order offences are down by 76% and all crime by 59%.

Leader of Plymouth City Council Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham) told cabinet members the transformation which was now complete had been “mind-blowing,” changing the lives of residents.