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My North Town
More homes for Phase One of My North Town
18th January 2010First Wessex (Pavilion Housing) has announced to residents revised plans for the phasing (timing) of the redevelopment of My North Town and has now given residents copies of the plan of works for the whole estate. Previously the association published the first three phases but were unable to say when work on Pegasus Avenue and parts of Denmark Square would start. It has now published the timetable for all six phases covering the whole area.
Hazel Warwick, Group Development Director for First Wessex explains:
“We have made changes to the early phases to allow us to develop faster in the first few years thereby reducing the time our residents spend in temporary accommodation. The main change is to make the first phase larger by adding areas that we had previously planned to do later. Alltogether, the number of new homes in Phase 1 will increase from 55 to 157 properties.
The area that we previously called Phase 1 will now be called Phase 1A. We also propose that part of Denmark Square (nos 139-180),and 51-73 Eastern Road , which were to have been in the third phase, are brought forward for inclusion as Phase 1B starting May 2011. We also propose to include Queen Street as Phase 1C also starting in May 2011.
The impact of these changes is that residents in Phase 1A should have a shorter stay in interim accommodation before they are permanently re-housed – from a possible three years to 18 months. Phase 2 will stay the same but will start six months later than previously, because of the additional work we are adding to Phase 1. However, we still expect to complete the replacement for Alma House by February 2011.
Phase 3 will now extend through to Deadbrook Lane and will still start around November 2012. Phase 4, starting around February 2013, includes blocks in Denmark Sq (43–54, 55-66, 67-78) and some of Pegasus Avenue (25–59, 61–95 97–119 (odds in all three blocks). The redevelopment of the shops and flats above as well as the North Town Base will be Phase 5 starting May 2014. The rest of Pegasus Avenue and Denmark Square will be in Phase 6 which will be starting May 2015. By this time, all the current residents will have been permanently re-housed. The end date of the project is expected to complete in 2017.”
First Wessex also confirmed that all residents in Phase 1A have received letters to arrange individual consultation meetings to tell them about offers of temporary accommodation and permanent re-housing. All of these timings are subject to negotiations with Leaseholders in each phase.
My North Town Team has organised drop in sessions at The North Town Base on:
Monday 18 January (9.30–12.30 am),
Wednesday 20 January (1.30–4.30pm and 5.30–8.30pm)
Saturday 23 January (10am–4pm)
People can come and see a display of the new phasing plans and talk to staff from First Wessex and Rushmoor Borough Council to answer any queries. People can also view a virtual tour of the regenerated estate on My North Town website: www.mynorthtown.net.
The new proposed timing for the first three phases of the Renewal Project is:
Start work on site for Phase One Spring 2010
Complete Alma House replacement February 2011
Complete Phase One & start Phase Two Winter 2011
Complete Phase Two & start Phase Three Winter 2012
Complete Phase Three and start Phase Four Spring 2013
Complete Phase Four and start Phase Five Spring 2014
Complete Phase Five and start Phase Six Spring 2015
Complete project 2017
First Wessex is currently short listing the contractors who have responded to the tender. The short listed contractors will receive a “Tender Package” and there will then be a six week tender period until the end of February. All short listed contractors will be interviewed. The newly formed My North Town Residents’ Consultative Group will be invited to participate in this process. The appointment of the contractor will take place at the end of March with the appropriate lead-in period.
The My North Town Enquiry Line 0800 358 0459 is still available for interested residents to call for any further information.”
Notes to Editors
My North Town renewal project is the proposed £100 million redevelopment and regeneration scheme of First Wessex (Pavilion Housing) within the North Town estate of Aldershot. It also includes a number of commercial premises and leasehold properties.
There are approximately 500 homes in the area and the majority are occupied by Pavilion Housing residents. My North Town’s aim is to strengthen the existing community and provide buildings suitable for the next generation – comfortable, economical, eco-friendly homes in a mix of housing styles with courtyard communities and gardens. The project wants to build on the existing sense of community already felt in North Town. My North Town will be a safer, more attractive environment better suited to the needs of all sections of the community.
The project funding is available from three sources: grants from the Government’s Homes & Communities Agency (HCA); private sector finance and from First Wessex ’s own resources. The funding will enable complete replacement of the existing 500 homes, with the potential to develop a further 200 homes in future phases as long as planning permission can be obtained.
All of the current homes for rent will be replaced with new homes with affordable rents or for shared ownership. It is hoped that any later phases will provide a proportion of private ownership homes.
The project will transform the estate over a period of seven years and will involve new building to replace the existing blocks of flats and retail units. The My North Town Renewal Project’s long term aim is to produce a greater mix of housing, both more variety of sizes of homes including more houses with gardens and different types of ownership such as, general needs renting, shared ownership and private ownership. All the homes will be built to the latest modern design and environmental standards.
As part of the regeneration proposals Pavilion Housing aims to improve the existing shops as well as provide a brand new and much improved North Town Base community facility. The plans include the provision of additional small shop units to benefit to the local community and help to stimulate and regenerate the shopping facilities on North Lane.
The North Town Base will be a significantly enlarged and improved community facility with dedicated meeting space, rooms for clubs and societies, office and administration as well as the storage in a modern and up-to-date building for a number of users and groups to utilise the facilities at the same time.
The new Base and for the shops in North Lane will be in the later phases of the project which will not commence until after 2013. Nearer the time, Pavilion will ensure there are temporary arrangements to enable community groups using the base to continue with minimal inconvenience.
A programme of public consultation ran between February and July 2009. This was open to residents of the estate and the surrounding areas as well as others with an interest in the area. As well as exhibitions and displays there were opportunities to discuss the project with the design team as well as Pavilion and Rushmoor BC staff.
At the events residents, the wider community and community groups of North Town met with all concerned to help shape the future of this important renewal area. Following this, the MasterPlan for the estate was produced and formed the basis of the planning application which received consent on 17 July 2009.
The Design Team comprised Architects, Kenn Scaddan Associates; Planning Consultants, Gregory Gray Associates and Consultant Engineers, Upton McCougan.
In addition to the public events Pavilion Housing Association has met with every affected resident and has produced the following leaflets for residents and community groups:
· General Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
· Frequently Asked Questions and Answers for Pavilion Tenants
· Having to Move? A leaflet that explains what home loss and disturbance payments will be paid to affected residents.
· A series of My North Town Newsletters
All of these leaflets can be downloaded from the website www.mynorthtown.net Or requested by calling the FREEPHONE number 0800 358 0459
Pavilion Housing Association is part of the First Wessex Housing Group which was formed in 2005. The Group manages around 17000 affordable homes primarily in Hampshire and with some activity in Surrey. It has recently completed a public consultation of a similar size project and has demonstrated it skills in the area of regeneration.
Pavilion Housing Association is the largest provider of housing association homes for rent in the Aldershot, Farnborough, Ash and Farnham areas. Pavilion Housing Association, in partnership with Rushmoor Borough Council, has the financial support, the planning, development and community consultation expertise to make this important renewal project a success – one to benefit the residents and community of North Town now and one that is sustainable for future generations.
First Wessex comprises Atlantic Housing Limited, First Atlantic Housing, Pavilion Housing Association, Portsmouth Housing Association, Fernhill Care Limited and Wessex Property Limited.
Portsmouth Housing Association: provides homes in Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport and Havant. It also provides a wide range of community regeneration services across South East Hampshire.
Atlantic Housing and First Atlantic Housing: provide a full range of affordable housing including rented, supported, shared ownership and key worker housing. A large support portfolio includes housing for older people, extra-care housing, dementia care housing, housing for people with learning disabilities, people recovering from mental illness and some specialist accommodation. They cover a geographic area spanning Eastleigh, Southampton, Winchester and the New Forest.
Fernhill Care: provides care services for tenants of First Wessex Housing Group and other landlords and for individuals in the community with support needs. It specialises in domiciliary, extra- and dementia care.
Wessex Property Limited: the group’s in-house repairs and maintenance organisation.
www.firstwessex.org, www.atlantichousing.co.uk, www.pavilionha.co.uk, www.phagroup.org.uk
Rushmoor Borough Council has worked for many years in partnership with Pavilion Housing Association, following the large scale voluntary transfer of the housing stock in 1995. PHA is a preferred development partner with the Council and has delivered many affordable homes for rent and shared ownership with funding from the local authority and the Homes and Communities Agency.
The Council has worked jointly with Pavilion Housing and the local community on successful community development projects and works closely with the housing management team to ensure that their residents receive a good quality service from their landlord.
Kenn Scaddan Associatesbased in Portsmouth is the appointed architect for the scheme and has worked with First Wessex for many years on a wide variety of housing and mixed-use schemes.
The practice has been in existence for 25 years specialising in social housing and has developed an expertise in Urban Regeneration such as the My Town project together with a significant number of commissions in the Health and Special Needs sectors.
Gregory Gray Associates, Farnborough-basedTown Planning Associates has led urban renewal and affordable housing projects on behalf of public authorities and Housing Associations. The practice is working with the Architect and Rushmoor Borough Council Planning and Housing Departments to develop this important regeneration project. The Practice will be responsible for the coordination and submission of the planning application and assistance on the community consultation.
Upton McCougan, Highways and Drainage Consultants will advise on technical design and engineering details including working with the Highways Authorities, Thames and South East Water Authorities and the Environment Agency.
