RESIDENTS campaigning to save homes earmarked for demolition as part of plans to regenerate Knowle West say councillors have been making decisions based on false statements.

Members of the Knowle West Residents' Planning Group say they have obtained official council documents stating that properties in Torpoint Road and Kingswear Road are structurally sound and can be refurbished, rather than demolished.

The council plans to knock down 74 flats in the area, owned by the council and Knightstone Housing Association, after finding they had "inherent structural defects".

But the group says that three condition reports compiled by council officials in 1999, 2004 and 2007 state that the flats are safe.

The reports, among other documents, were put before councillors in March, and the council's cabinet approved a £1-million scheme to demolish the flats.

Following the discovery the residents say the material was either "shoddily treated" or "deliberately deceiving".

Among the documents obtained by the group through the Freedom of Information Act is a third condition report, entitled: "Kingswear and Torpoint report for costs and evaluation", from July 2007.

At the top of the report it states: "It is apparent that the structure of the blocks is satisfactory and requires no significant structural or remedial works".

Former councillor Jim White, an architect who has worked in construction for 40 years, runs his own property renovation and building company and was on the council's planning committee for ten years, examined the reports.

He said he feared "financial, social and environmental mistakes" would be made through the demolition.

In a letter to the council's cabinet, he said: "The three condition surveys all make it quite clear that these buildings are basically structurally sound, and while needing vital repairs and upgrading, they are quite capable of being saved. Many of the faults are no more than you would expect in any building of this age that has been poorly maintained."

Mr White calculated that the loss to the public purse through demolition of the 74 flats would be between £3.5 million and £4 million, with another £300,000 for demolition costs.

He said: "Demolishing these buildings is a lazy idea that seems to display a lack of understanding of the finances of property development and a very cavalier attitude towards public money."

The discovery of the misleading reports has infuriated residents in Knowle West.

Reverend Alister Palmer, chairman of the Knowle West Residents' Planning Group, said: "We had some inkling that the flats were structurally sound, so we asked for reports as we wanted to check for ourselves.

"We discovered, lo and behold, that they were OK. Either the officers have not treated the material correctly or they were deliberately deceiving.

"We don't dispute there are difficulties with the flats, but they can be overcome with refurbishment.

"It is open to question as to what the intention was, but it was either shoddy work or an intention to deceive the councillors."

Mr White's wife Anne, also a former councillor who was on the board of campaign group Knowle West Against Drugs, is a trustee of Filwood playing fields, and is on the board of the Knowle West health association, said the flats should be repaired.

She said: "They are structurally sound, they can be renovated to a high standard and that is cheaper than the cost of demolition.

"People in Knowle West have been told over the years they are not structurally sound, but it is not true."

Council spokeswoman Kate Hartas said: "Redeveloping Kingswear and Torpoint is the solution agreed, after extensive public consultation, to address significant problems and regenerate the area.

"The immediate area is in the highest one per cent in the country for crime and anti-social behaviour, and Knightstone Housing Association has said it is the most difficult site to let in Bristol, taking three times longer than other locations.

"The flats cannot be used for social housing because they are not disabled accessible and because they cannot meet the Government's Decent Homes Standard.

"The design of the flats is defective, leading to significant problems such as leaking roofs and cracking walls, and the flats would be very expensive to maintain, whatever was spent on refurbishment.

"The council's view, having explored all the options in some detail, is that demolition is the best solution."