Prince Charles has weighed into the pathfinder demolition debate. In a speech to the Institute of Chartered Accountants he said: “Old, historic, characterful buildings are knocked down, even though in the longer term it would cost far less in financial, social and environmental terms to refurbish them and convert them to other uses, such as residential and mixed use.” Ringo Starr also added his name to the detractors when is became apparent that the 150 year old, two up, two down house that the Beatle grew up in faced demolition. Starr said: “Why are we knocking them down? If it’s economically viable they should do them up. Are they going to knock out the centre of Liverpool again? That’s what they did before. They moved everybody out to high-rise apartments outside the city and forgot to rebuild.” Official research suggests that 72% of residents support the government’s plans.