New homes a chip off the old block!

RECYCLE, recycle . . . removing mortar by hand to reclaim the bricks to be used in the next generation of homes

Victorian terrace homes in Derker may have reached the end of the line — but not the end of their life.

For almost every bit of them from roofs to floorboards is being recycled by demolition teams to be used in more homes and gardens.

The eco-friendly workmen bulldozing 30 houses in Garnet Street are ensuring that nothing useful goes to waste.

Bricks, timber, slates and other materials are being reused in innovative ways.

Roofing slates from the old properties are used on new builds and to repair the roofs of many other homes in Oldham.

Large timber roofing spars can be reclaimed for fencing, while even wood in poor condition isn’t wasted — the contractors will shred it and use it in products such as chipboard.

The walls are taken down carefully so that many of the bricks can be used again. Mortar is removed by hand, and the bricks are palleted and sold to builders to create new homes.

The site, part of the Housing Market Renewal programme, will also be used again for new homes. The clearance follows demolition of 14 homes earlier this year on near-by London Road and Ramsey Street.

Jess Tindall, managing director of Oldham-based Booth Hill Reclamation, which is carrying out the work, said: “We salvage at least 95 per cent of all the materials from the demolition.”

Neighbourhood programme manager, Julie Thompson, said: “We are clearing where we can now so we can make good progress in the future.”

HMR aims to improve housing in run-down areas to transform neighbourhoods and improve people’s lives, with more than £154 million invested since 2004.

Through HMR, Bellway Homes will build new houses on the Garnet Street site, which overlooks Afghan Park.

And Gleeson Homes hope to start building early next year on the former Albert Mill site.