Tributes paid to De ans South crumbling concrete campaign er
Joe Baxter, one of the homeowners who first raised the issues of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in West Lothian homes, and fought for a new home on Livingston’s Deans South estate, has died aged 83.
Joe, and his widow Isabel, had been planning the move into their new bungalow on the estate by the end of the summer at the same time as fellow neighbour and Ghost estate campaigner Kerry Macintosh.
The couple lived just along the road from Kerry in the Deans South street which was condemned for its RAAC/Siporex roofing 18 years ago.
Joe and Isabel Baxter were among a group of nine homeowners who fought for almost two decades for a new home. The couple had been able to visit their new bungalow which is being completed by Springfield Homes on the Deans South site in January.
Joe was remembered by family and friends at a funeral service earlier this week at Livingston Old Parish St Andrews Church in Deans.
Kerry, a neighbour of the Baxters for more than two decades, said she was “heartbroken”.
And writing on her social media page, A Fair Deal for Deans South Homeowners, she added: “He was my kind and lovely neighbour. I’m thinking of Isabel and the family.
“I just felt my heart cave in at the funeral, I can’t still take it in that he’s not here. It’s like losing a father. That’s what it felt like to me. We were in contact constantly. Joe and Isabel were more than neighbours, they were part of my family. Joe and Isabel gave me the inspiration to fight on with this. I remember I sat down with Joe and Isabel when they said ‘we are not giving up our house. We are going to fight’ and 20 years on we have got a new house. I am going to get justice for them. This is for Joe and Isabel.”
The Baxter family announced Joe had died after a long illness on March 18. In a social media post they said: “Joe is well known to the wider Newtown area, both as a neighbour and for his active visitation locally and friendship extended both personally and in connection with his work in the Gospel Hall.”