In October 2009, residents received further devastating news that the long awaited redevelopment of the Boot Estate may not be completed for another 15 years
While the Lib- Dem run City Council was gloating in the success of the Capital of Culture , Boot residents away from the city centre, continue after 10 years of Lib-Dem failure to live in the worst housing conditions in the City.
The original community-led redevelopment plan had collapsed in 2002 and Councillor Richard Kemp,, current leader of the Lib-Dems was forced by resident outrage to resign over his mishandling of the proposals.
Councillor Richard Kemp was responsible for the decision made in 1999 to suspend all reletting of vacant properties across the estate instead of taking an area by area approach. This catastrophic decision condemned 100’s of Boot residents to 10 years of blight, vandalism, fly tipping and arson attacks; creating years of unnecessary family misery.