Consultation Continues on £7 million Essington Redevelopment

Residents and parish councillors have had their say on a proposed £7m development aimed at improving the lives of local people.

As part of an ongoing consultation process, representatives from South Staffordshire Housing Association have spent the last few weeks talking to the community about plans to redevelop Park House, in Essington.

Last night (Monday 7 April), parish councillors met with the association to hear feedback on key issues including the percentage of affordable homes, provision of additional car parking and the potential impact on local traffic.

Sue Rowley, managing director of South Staffordshire Housing Association, said: “It was extremely useful to hear directly from the councillors how they feel about the development and what they would like to see from it, and us.

“We welcomed the opportunity to confirm our pledge to make a financial contribution to the local school and to ensure that local people currently living in the town would get priority for the new homes. We also had the chance to inform the parish council of revised proposals to boost the number of parking spaces in streets surrounding the proposed new development and create new, affordable, family starter homes, which local people will get first priority for.”

The meeting with the councillors included feedback on the views of local residents who attended a public consultation event arranged by the association on 18 March.

Following local feedback, the housing association has made changes to the proposal and a planning application will be submitted to the local council towards the end of April.

Sue Rowley continued: “We have already spent a lot of time since the consultation working on the questions posed by local residents and reshaping our plans to address any concerns.

“In general, the feedback we received from the residents’ meeting was positive with many local people agreeing that there is a need for accommodation for the older people in the village.

“Following local input, we have increased the number of parking spaces to improve the existing situation for residents, added new shared ownership properties to the plans and promised to work with residents and a specialist landscape architect on the treatment of site boundaries.

“Thank you to everyone who gave their time to this consultation.  Their views have been listened to. If anyone living locally has any other questions, we’d be happy to hear from them to ensure all local people have had the chance to have their say.”
 
The redevelopment would create up to 70 high-quality one and two-bedroom flats with vastly improved facilities as well as more communal resources such as an internet suite, residents’ lounge, healthcare room and  dining area. There would be landscaped gardens, car parking and arrangements for extra support, care and health services.

It would provide a mix of shared-ownership and rented homes to help meet the housing needs of the growing number of older residents in Essington and South Staffordshire in the future.

Following the consultation, provision of new starter family homes is also proposed – bringing the proposed affordable housing for the development up to 77 per cent (compared to a typical figure of 30 per cent).

Park House was built in the 1970s when bed-sit housing was commonplace. Today, both men and women are living longer and more couples, as well as single people, want affordable housing which caters for their needs.

By 2012 it is predicted that one in five people in South Staffordshire will be over 60 years old.  This figure is set to increase further to one in three residents over 60 years by 2029.

(Released 8th April 2008)

School Children Serve up Respect for their Elders

Local school pupils turned waiters and waitresses for the day at a Penkridge retirement housing scheme.

Six young people from Wolgarston High School, in Penkridge, visited residents at Riverside House, in Mill Street, to help serve lunch. Both young and old took the opportunity to get to know a little more about their respective lifestyles, sharing stories and advice over a cup of tea.

The event at the South Staffordshire Housing Association-run scheme was part of county-wide celebrations for the Go Green For Respect campaign day, aimed at bridging the generation gap and encouraging communities to respect each other.

South Staffordshire Housing Association, South Staffordshire Council and Staffordshire Youth Services have joined forces for the ongoing campaign to promote the Government’s Respect Agenda.

Wolgarston High School, Cheslyn Hay Sport and Community School, and Great Wyrley High School, have been involved in the programme locally. Their work has involved learning about respect issues, and working with a team of peer educators – young people recruited by the youth service to work with other young people in the district.

“Working with our partners, the programme has been about promoting the Respect Agenda – respecting others, respecting yourself, respecting your community and respecting your environment,” said Sue Rowley, managing director of South Staffordshire Housing Association.

“On Go Green for Respect Day, pupils from three local schools went into three of our retirement schemes to help and to chat to older people so they can learn from each other.

“This was not just a one-off. Everyone involved is keen to make some of the activities regular fixtures, like passing on computer skills.

“A lot of planning has gone into this over the last 12 months and we hope to continue the good links that we have now established to continue to promote respect in the community.”

The pupils involved are aged 14, 15 and 16.

(Released 30th April 2008.)