New homes as seen on screen
22 December 2009
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Residents have been viewing their future on the big screen following the unveiling of a computer-generated drive-through tour of the first phase of the £360m redevelopment project in north east Coventry.
The virtual tour of the first 622 homes took place at a special consultation event on December 3 and showed how new homes and open spaces in the regeneration area of Wood End, Henley Green, Manor Farm and Deedmore will look.
More than 150 residents attended the event, held at Moat House Leisure and Neighbourhood Centre. Also on display were details of house types, road layouts, play areas and landscape and green space improvements, as well as the new environmentally-friendly district heating proposals, for the first 154 homes.
The drop-in style consultation was hosted by architects Broadway Malyan and engineers White Young Green. Residents also had the opportunity to get their queries answered first hand by experts from the regeneration partnership including Whitefriars Housing Group, Coventry New Deal for Communities (NDC), Coventry City Council and developers Keepmoat Homes, Bovis Homes and Westbury Partnerships.
The massive regeneration of the NDC area will see more than 3,000 new homes built over 15 years. The scale of the programme has seen the area divided into a number of phases. Planning permission for the first 154 homes, which includes Deedmore and Monkswood areas, was submitted in October and work is set to start in May 2010. The project is being supported by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) with investments towards the new Castlewood Primary School, infrastructure and a new low carbon CHP scheme for the homes, as well as affordable housing grant towards delivering the first phase.
Chair of the Regeneration Action Team and resident Martin Smith, said: 'I was really excited to see the walk-through programme. We’ve seen a construction model of the first phase of regeneration and now we’ve seen what our streets are actually going to look like as we virtually travel down the roads.'
'The regeneration project has been on the go for a long while, and recently things have stepped up a gear. Things are becoming more real, and we are getting to the point now when we can actually imagine living in our new homes and can picture what we’d see as we open our front doors.'
Lynn Wassell, project director for Whitefriars Housing Group, who is leading the work on behalf of Whitefriars, Coventry City Council and NDC, said: 'We’re really excited about seeing the project come to life next year. The event is a huge milestone in the project which we’ve only been able to reach thanks to the tireless support and input from local residents.'
'I’d particularly like to thank residents from the Regeneration Action Team, and our funding partners the Homes and Communities Agency and Advantage West Midlands.'
Following the event, the developers will be submitting a detailed planning application on December 10 for the remaining 468 homes of the first phase of development.
Whitefriars owns and manages more than 2,000 homes in the NDC area. The first homes are due to be completed in October 2010.
For further information: Joh Thomas, Regional Communications Manager on 0121 234 9916 or email Jo.Thomas@hca.gsx.gov.uk.
Ends
Notes to Editors
New Deal for Communities (NDC)
New Deal for Communities is a government funded community-led initiative aimed at improving neglected and disadvantaged local communities.
In April 2000 central government awarded the Coventry New Deal for Communities area of Wood End, Henley Green, Manor Farm and Deedmore, £54m for a ten year regeneration programme.
Since 2001, local residents, NDC officers, communities and agencies have been working together to decide how this money will be best used to regenerate the community by creating real employment and training opportunities, better housing, a healthier quality of life, safer communities, a cleaner environment and improvements in educational achievement over the next ten years.
Our key achievements to date have included the development of two new schools and community facilities in the area, our contribution of more than £5million to prepare the master plan, fund acquisitions, demolish vacant properties and undertake environmental improvements and our £11m Leisure and Neighbourhood Centre. Statistically, since 2002, we have supported more than 500 local residents into jobs, the proportion of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs with grades A*-C in the NDC area has risen from 4.7 per cent to 34per cent, the level of reported crime in the area has dropped 23 per cent and there has been a 65 per cent reduction in the rate of anti-social behaviour.
NDC has also developed its successor vehicle, Moat House Community Trust, which will continue to work in the NDC area, post 2011 when the NDC programme ends.
Part of the New Deal for Communities scheme also involves the redevelopment of the area in partnership with Whitefriars Housing Group, Coventry City Council and developers.
Coventry NDC is the prime funder of the Moat House Leisure and Community Centre and a partner in the redevelopment of the area.
Whitefriars Housing Group
Whitefriars Housing Group was formed in 2000 to take responsibility for former council homes in Coventry. It is the lead partner in the redevelopment of Wood End, Henley Green and Manor Farm.
Around 2,100 of its 17,000 homes are in the Wood End, Henley Green and Manor Farm area of the city. The project will see more than 1,700 properties in the area demolished and replaced with new ones. Currently around 50% of its tenants in the area are on the transfer list for a home elsewhere. It will receive around 1,000 new houses and will refurbish its remaining homes.
One hundred and thirty-eight of the 1000 new homes have been allocated for existing home owners who wish to stay in the area (at 50 per cent subsidy).
Staff from Whitefriars are currently working with residents to agree a design code for the area with the architects. This will set the standards for the developers when designing their new homes.
Coventry City Council
Coventry City Council is the major land owner in the initiative and is making land available to help deliver the scheme. The Council will also use its power to support delivery and lead on employment issues. It is a partner in the redevelopment of the area and the owner, a funder and manager of the leisure and community centre.
Development consortium:
1. Keepmoat Homes
Keepmoat Homes is part of Keepmoat Ltd. - a leader in community regeneration across the north and midlands of England. Playing a major role in the government’s agenda to deliver sustainable communities, it is committed to delivering housing partnerships.
Keepmoat Homes is a specialist in providing affordable, yet highly desirable one, two, three and four bedroom homes, predominantly aimed at the first and second time buyer market.
Of the 1100 of properties it built last year, 60 per cent were constructed through partnership schemes with local authorities and 40 per cent of these were on private development land.
Creating sustainable communities where people choose to work and live and in which they can take pride is at the heart of everything that Keepmoat Homes does. The company understands that there is more to regeneration than bricks and mortar, champions and supports community projects and provides jobs and training opportunities for local people.
2. Bovis Homes
Bovis Homes is one of Britain's leading house builders, providing quality homes in attractive locations throughout England and South Wales.
Bovis Homes Central Region builds a wide selection of properties across the midlands and the south with an extensive portfolio of property designs including modern apartments, terraced cottages, stylish three storey town houses, and imposing four, five and six bedroom family homes.
Each development offers a carefully chosen location with easy access to local amenities and good commuting links.
3. Persimmon Homes
Persimmon Homes has been trading since 1972 and operates under three main brands, Persimmon Homes, Charles Church and Westbury Partnerships.
There are 25 regional companies from Exeter to Edinburgh, building quality homes which provide the very best in design, construction and service. The wide range of property types includes three, four and five-bed detached properties; two and three-bed terraced and semi-detached houses; bungalows and apartments.
The Westbury Partnerships business focuses on social housing, in conjunction with Space 4, their timber frame manufacturing operation. By working closely with housing associations, this business aims to offer solutions to some of the affordable housing problems the Government wishes to resolve.
The Homes and Communities Agency
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is the single, national housing and regeneration agency for England.
Our vision is about creating opportunity for people to live in homes they can afford, in places they want to live and for local authorities and communities to deliver the ambition they have for their own areas.
This will be achieved by:
- Acting as the bridge between national targets and local ambitions, with a strong regional presence
- Through a process of 'single conversations' with local authorities, RDAs and sub regional partnerships
- Working effectively with the market, housebuilders, investors and other stakeholders
- Understanding the needs and aspirations of people and communities.
The HCA brings together English Partnerships, investment functions of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities, with major delivery programmes of Communities and Local Government.
Advantage West Midlands
Advantage West Midlands is the Regional Development Agency (RDA) for the West Midlands. It is one of nine RDAs in England that were established to transform the English regions through sustainable economic development.
Its role is to lead the economic development of the West Midlands, working alongside a wide range of public, private and voluntary sectors partners to help the region to prosper - building upon its many strengths and addressing its unique challenges.
Advantage West Midlands has an annual budget of more than £300m to invest in the economic development of the West Midlands and, at any one time, is managing around 2,500 projects which are changing the lives of people right across our region.
It drives economic development by identifying where the greatest impact can be made either by targeting need or investing in success.
Its key task is to provide leadership for the development and delivery of the West Midlands Economic Strategy – the framework for the region’s growth. This enables AWM to leverage and maximise investment into the region and thereby create a far greater impact than could be done by acting in isolation.