RENEW North Staffordshire

The figure is a strong endorsement of RENEW’s work from the Communities and Local Government Department. It is expected to be complemented by more than £600 million investment from private and public sector partners. The award followed a very positive report from the Audit Commission, which concluded that RENEW North Staffordshire was performing well overall and that the area has a strong continued need for investment.

RENEW has recalculated the figures submitted in the business plan because of the change in available finance and to take account of some changes in the complementary investment expected from partners.

The delivery plan targets are now:
• refurbishment of 3,800 older houses
• building of 772 new homes
• clearance of 1,181 houses
• acquisition of 993 houses.

RENEW North Staffordshire will work through the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership to ensure that new and improved housing is complemented by business, community and environmental improvements.

RENEW will spend more than 80 per cent of its funding in the ‘urban core’ of Stoke-on-Trent. This area has both the worst problems and the most opportunities to help transform the wide housing market, economy and image of North Staffordshire. Urban core neighbourhoods include Burslem, Middleport, Cobridge, Shelton, City Waterside, Hanley, Northwood, Etruria and Stoke town.

RENEW will also continue to support regeneration in Knutton and Cross Heath, Meir, Coalville and the social housing estates of Stoke-on-Trent, Galleys Bank, Fegg Hayes and Biddulph East.

PRINCIPLES FOR NEW HOUSING ON COLLINS & AIKMAN SITE UNVEILED (23/2/08)

On Saturday 23 February 2008, residents from all over Knutton, Lower Milehouse and Cross Heath were shown the principles behind developing new housing in the area. At two separate venues, Ramsey Road Community Centre, Cross Heath and Knutton Community Centre, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. residents examined ideas being considered and gave their feedback.

Over the past two years there has been considerable resident consultation in relation to regeneration activity within the Knutton and Cross Heath area funded in partnership with several organisations and delivered by Aspire Housing. The next phase of redevelopment has started with the commencement of an extra care development, adjacent to Morrison’s supermarket, now underway. This development will provide 60 apartments for older people and a medical centre for the general community.

Bellway Homes (lead developer fort the area) have been engaged to deliver the housing development on the remainder of the Collins and Aikman site. They have ideas and principles that they wished to test on local residents and so invited all local households to the information event which made available initial ideas and images for comments in relation to the architectural design and estate layout.

Bellway have been working with the Local Authority Planning Officers to agree the principles for any housing and environmental improvements that will be put back. This has been turned into a formal document called a Design Supplementary Planning Document (Design SPD) recently considered by Newcastle Borough Council’s Strategic Planning Committee.

Colin Hall, Planning Officer with Newcastle Borough Council, said “The redevelopment activity in the area will take several years to complete and this document sets out what the planning officers will look for when any new ideas come forward. I would be delighted to hear any comments that residents have before the consultation window closes on 31 March 2008.”

The display boards used on the information day can still be viewed at the NMP Office in Knutton. If anybody was not able to attend the Information Day on Saturday 23rd February 2008 and would like to organise a home visit to discuss the proposals please contact Cheryl Pritchard at Aspire Housing on (01782) 635200.

FIRST TURF CUT ON NEWCASTLE's PRIMARY 'EXTRA CARE' VILLAGE (19/2/08)

Work has begun on the construction of the very first ‘extra care’ village in the Newcastle area – Mill Rise.

Aspire Housing, North Staffordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Prima 200 North Staffordshire, are working together to provide first class health facilities, alongside housing and additional care and support at the village for the over 50s - giving people the opportunity to continue living independently in their own homes.

The village will host a new health centre with a pharmacy and 60 apartments, with a mix of one and two-bedroom accommodation. People will have the opportunity to rent or part-buy property, with the rest of the site being developed at a later stage by Bellway - providing 160 high quality homes.

Sinéad Butters, Chief Executive, Aspire Housing said: “We are thrilled to be working with the Primary Care Trust to pave the way for the first ‘extra care’ village of this kind in the area. She continued: “Mill Rise will provide people with high quality housing to enable them to enjoy a better quality of life with access to vital services available to them in the village.”

A state-of-the-art health centre will be developed by North Staffordshire PCT which will act as a base for the three local GP practices in the Knutton and Cross Heath areas, offering services to all residents of these and surrounding areas. NHS dental services will be made available from the Centre, to address the specific dental health needs of the local population. In addition the new Centre will host physiotherapy, chiropody and podiatry services together with a range of community nursing services.

North Staffordshire PCT Chairman, Andrew Millward, said: “This excellent new development will, I’m sure, be warmly welcomed by the communities it will serve. Providing these facilities right in the centre of what is an area of high health needs is absolutely the right thing to do.”

The Mill Rise development will be set in beautiful landscaped surroundings and is being developed within the LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) scheme by Prima 200 in partnership with Aspire Housing and North Staffordshire PCT. It will be built to high design and environmental standards and will act as a catalyst to the wider regeneration of the Knutton and Cross Heath area.

“Prima 200 is proud to partner with these key organisations and agencies working together to meet the strategic objectives of delivering better services and improving the local area” said Ann Pursey, Prima 200’s Chief Executive.

A celebration event followed the official turf cutting ceremony, held at Knutton Recreation Centre, where partners supporting and funding the development attended, including RENEW North Staffordshire, Newcastle Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council. Street Reps and other local residents went along to show their support and to view the plans for the village.

Mill Rise will host a number of other services, including a pharmacy, hairdresser, restaurant, hobby room and many others. Building work is due for completion by summer 2009.

For any further information about the ‘Mill Rise’ development, please contact Suzie King, Project Manager by email at sking@aspirehousing.co.uk or call her on 01782 635200.

SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING DOCUMENT (SPD)

At the November 2007 meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee of Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council, a report was considered which outlined the latest position regarding the preparation of a Supplementary Planning Document for Knutton and Cross Heath. The SPD is being prepared in order to provide guidance to Bellway Homes for their development proposals in the Knutton and Cross Heath area. It would also establish planning policy through a statutory planning document that can be used to underpin compulsory purchase action if necessary as well as providing a means of consulting and engaging with the community.

The key issues and development principles covered by the draft SPD include:-

- An overall aim to enable a transformational change in Knutton and Cross Heath through the introduction of good quality, aspirational housing set within a well-designed environment which is well connected, secure and aesthetically pleasing.

- To ensure that any development is comprehensive and addresses the need for whole-scale regeneration in the area.

- To set levels of developer contributions for public open space and highway improvements.

- To ensure that any development proposals take proper account of flood risk issues in accordance with advice from the Environment Agency.

- For the development proposals to respect the heritage assets/landscape and biodiversity in the area.

- To improve connectivity between the various parts of the area through cycling and new pedestrian routes, as well as to the wider area including the Town Centre.

- To ensure that the developers meet high quality standards in their estate layouts and house designs.

In 2007 the proposals were not firmed-up enough to be taken out to public discussion and could not be moved forward until the development proposals put forward by the preferred developer for the area, Bellway Homes, were more definitive. Colin Hall, Planning Officer for the Newcastle Borough Council explains, “Considering that the SPD consultation must precede the submission of a planning application, a planning application should not be determined until the SPD is in place.”

MINISTER TOURS RENEWED NEIGHBOURHOOD

A Government minister was greeted with a song from schoolchildren when he visited Stoke-on-Trent recently.

Iain Wright, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Communities and Local Government Department, toured the city to see for himself how neighbourhoods are being transformed by RENEW North Staffordshire and its partners.

During the visit, earlier this month, he met residents, staff, council members and pupils of the recently opened Waterside Primary School.

RENEW North Staffordshire is leading work with partners - Stoke-on-Trent City Council, the Housing Corporation, the North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone, British Waterways and national regeneration agency, English Partnerships - in City Waterside, a regeneration project that will provide up to 2,400 new homes alongside revitalised Victorian terrace communities.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council provided the £5 million primary school, which replaced a dilapidated old building. The school is attended by children from both the new and old housing in City Waterside and boasts an array of eco-friendly features and high quality design, including award-winning gates created by an artist and the pupils.

The new school was the focus of the ministerial visit because it is an example of how RENEW is working with partners to provide high quality community facilities alongside new homes and the renovation of older properties.

Mr Wright also saw other examples of RENEW’s work, including new homes at City Waterside, a new community hall and homes currently being renovated. The Bridgewater Pottery, which is proposed for conversion by Urban Splash, and land where new homes are being designed through the Europan 9 architecture competition were also on the minster’s itinerary. .

Ernie Clarke, chairman of Coalville Residents' Association, and Heather Evans, who now lives in Bradwell in Newcastle under Lyme after being rehoused from the Lower Milehouse area of Knutton and Cross Heath, took the opportunity to speak to Mr Wright about their experiences.

Knutton Village Public Realm Consultation

Taylor Young (Architects and Urban designers) have been given the task by RENEW of developing a Public Realm Strategy for Knutton Village.

This is part of the continuing process of regeneration, which started in earnest when independent consultants BM3 Architects were commissioned to work in 2005 with local residents and stakeholders to create a Masterplan for Knutton, Lower Milehouse and Cross Heath area.

Of particular relevance to Knutton Village was work commissioned by Newcastle Borough Council to gather information regarding the stock and ground condition of approximately 200 privately owned pre-1919 terraced houses. The information collected has been used to establish the scope for improvements and to attract funding e.g. for the improvements to properties being carried out in John Street and part of High Street.

The Public Realm Strategy will guide all this sort of work in the future, by providing a set of clear recommendations for the continued improvement of Knutton Village, making it a more pleasant place to shop and visit, and to support local businesses.

As part of this consultation, local people were asked for their views on issues such as the “identity” for the village, the appearance of streets and open spaces, car parking, safety, fencing, footpaths and cycle routes.

This is why that the various partner agencies involved encouraged residents to attend the open consultation that took place at Knutton Recreation Centre in the afternoon of Wednesday 11 April 2007 to give current views on how they wanted Knutton Village to look in the future.

Taylor Young are continuing to work on all the proposals and will be compiling a final report in the month of June which will help inform the way environmental improvements and renovation of older housing is carried out in future.

For more information and a map of the proposals see the May Edition of the Knutton Cross Heath AMI Newsletter on the Documents page.

Resident Consultancy Volunteers Needed

We are setting up a Resident Consultancy group in the Knutton and Cross Heath NMP/AMI area and are looking for volunteers to take part. The intention is to train resident volunteers in survey skills and support them to carry out surveys in their local area asking their neighbours views on a range of issues.The following questions and answers provide more detail on what is involved. For further information please contact Emma Slater at the NMP on 01782 611033.

Who

Who will be involved?

Street Reps and other community representatives who are interested in ensuring their community has a voice and can influence service delivery.

What

What’s it all about?

The idea is to conduct surveys with local residents to find out their views on a range of issues. The first of these will include the monitoring of the RENEW lead developers activity to ensure noise, dirt and other issues are kept to an acceptable level as per their contract and residents views on Newcastle Borough Council’s StreetScene team who have been cleaning up the neighbourhood. Future surveys may include questions from a range of service providers on different issues.

Why

Why should I be involved?

Because it’s important that local people’s views are taken into account and the information gathered can be used to improve services in your area.

When

When will I need to be available?

The surveys you carry out can be done at a time that’s convenient for you. You decide how much time you have available to give and when you want to conduct the surveys.

A training day will be held in August. The training will cover surveying skills and assertiveness and will provide an opportunity to meet other volunteers from the area.

Volunteers will also have the opportunity on an ongoing basis to be involved in designing questionnaires if they wish.

Where

Where will it take place?The training will take place at the NMP Office in Knutton.The surveys will be carried out on your street, and other streets if you wish, by door knocking and asking your neighbours opinions.

Then?

Then what happens?

The results will be collated by staff at the NMP and fed back to the volunteers and appropriate service providers and any issues will be pursued with the appropriate agencies.

Knutton and Cross Heath Neighbourhood Clean-Up.

The countdown is underway for a 14-day ‘Clean Up’ in the Knutton and Cross Heath Neighbourhood.

Following the previous two successful Pathfinder Clean Up Countdown campaign during the summer of 2005 and 2006 another 14 day clean up event has been organised for the Knutton, Cross Heath and Lower Milehouse area. The clean up will start on Monday 2nd July and is intended to engage the community in tidying up the neighbourhood alongside service providers.

The aim is to improve the local environment and increase pride in the area by cleaning up ‘hot spots’, tackling enviro-crimes and to raise awareness of environmental issues to make our neighbourhood a more pleasant space in which to live and work.

The clean up is being co-ordinated by the Knutton Cross Heath Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder (NMP) in partnership with local residents and a range of agencies including Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Aspire Housing Ltd, Staffordshire County Council, Staffordshire Police and local schools.

Litter picks will take place over the two-week clean up. The first week’s litter-picks are resident led litter-picks. We need the community to sign up to cleaning their own street and they will have the support of the Neighbourhood Wardens and NMP staff to do this. The second week will consist of organised litter picks along major streets in the area. These picks will be led by Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council’s Streetscene team along with the Neighbourhood Wardens. The fortnight culminates in an exciting fun day for the whole community on Saturday 14th July 2007 at Knutton Recreation Centre from 11am until 3pm so come along and join in the fun.

Please contact James at the Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder Offices on 01782 611033 to become involved, we need as much resident help as possible!

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (March 2007)

Do you have an idea for a project to improve the appearance of the area or security on your street?

If so you may be able to see your ideas become reality through the environmental improvements fund.

RENEW North Staffordshire and Aspire Housing have committed £200,000 to be spent on environmental improvements in the Knutton Cross Heath AMI in 2007.

Residents are urged to come forward with their suggestions on how the money could be spent to improve the local area. Projects should contribute to improving community safety, local facilities or the appearance of the area and must have the support of six households affected by the proposal. All proposals will be considered by the Environmental Improvements Project Group and scored against a set of criteria. All project proposals must be received by 30th March 2007 and successful proposals will be delivered during 2007/2008. The Project Group will respond with feedback on all proposals regardless of whether or not they are successful in obtaining funding.

This is the second round of environmental improvements funding provided by RENEW North Staffordshire and Aspire Housing with £500,000 of environmental improvements delivered between 2004/2006. A wide range of proposals were submitted by local residents and examples of successful projects completed include parking schemes, installation of CCTV, security lighting and community gardens. Please visit the Improvements link on the website menu to view a map showing the areas that have received funding to date and the type of environmental improvement delivered.

If you require any further information or would like an Environmental Improvements Proposal Form please contact Emma Slater at the NMP on 01782 611033.

RESIDENTS HELP CHOOSE LEAD DEVELOPERS

Eighteen local residents from Knutton, Cross Heath and Lower Milehouse have been working with RENEW over the last six months to give a local voice in the selection of the Lead Developer in the Knutton and Cross Heath Area of Major Intervention (AMI). The lead developer will be responsible for building new homes in the area throughout the regeneration programme and the same process has been followed in each of the AMIs in North Staffordshire.

The Panel asked a series of questions to the three short-listed companies who had applied for lead developer status. These concerned a range of issues ranging from practical questions such as their proposed arrangements for contact with staff on site through to how the developers would help local people into work. Residents also paid visits to new housing schemes developed by the bidding companies to see how they have worked in other areas.

The bidding companies were then scored on their responses to these questions with the resident’s recommendation for a preferred developer carrying a 25% weighting in the final selection process. After the resident developer selection panel finished their work, two or three representatives from the Panel joined the final RENEW selection panel. At the same time the bidding companies were evaluated on other elements of their bids, such as their proposals for a case study area and their track record.

The successful developer for Knutton Cross Heath AMI, chosen on 17 October 2006, is Bellway Homes whose website can be found at www.bellway.co.uk.

The Lead Developer Selection Panel has made it clear that they wish to continue to meet after the selection process ends to ensure that there is an on-going relationship between the Developer and the community at large.

HOME OPTIONS INFORMATION

The project is being led by Staffordshire Housing Association in partnership with Beth Johnson Housing Association, Blue Mountain Housing Association, Stoke on Trent City Council, Newcastle-under-Lyme borough Council and Renew North Staffordshire.

Home Options is a specialist team whose priority is to provide guidance and assistance to residents on their individual housing options, focusing on the promotion of home ownership to both existing and potential owner occupiers.

The Home Options head quarters is based at Staffordshire Housing Association in Stoke town centre, however in order to make the service accessible to all residents, team members will also be working out in neighborhood locations.

Home Options will work closely with affected residents, offering advice, assistance, signposting to other services and support. It will make a significant difference to the well-being and sense of security of people undergoing significant and sometimes frightening change in their housing situation.

For further information please contact us on 0845 1302165 or email homeoptions@staffshousing.org.uk

VOLUNTEER TO BE A STREET REP

RENEW North Staffordshire, Newcastle Borough Council and the Knutton Cross Heath Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder have launched a brand new scheme in your neighbourhood to help further improve communication with you.

It’s called the Street Rep Scheme and the aim is to have a Street Rep volunteer for every street in the neighbourhood. The role of the Street Rep is to provide accurate up to date information to residents about regeneration activities happening in their neighbourhood. We will ensure that Street Reps are kept fully informed about the RENEW North Staffordshire Housing Market Renewal Programme and other activities to enable them to pass on the information to their friends and neighbours.

Street Reps are supported and advised by a co-ordinator. In the Knutton/Cross Heath area the scheme is run by the Knutton Cross Heath Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder (NMP) and the co-ordinator is Laurence Reardon. To volunteer as a Street Rep or for further information please contact Laurence on 01782 635200.

RENEW NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE WELCOMES £67M FUNDING

RENEW North Staffordshire today welcomed the Government’s announcement of £67.5m housing market renewal funding for 2006-08.

The investment will revitalise communities in North Staffordshire by improving older housing, building hundreds of new homes and clearing old houses that are beyond repair.

It will also support economic regeneration in North Staffordshire by dramatically improving the environment close to Stoke-on-Trent city centre and making the most of North Staffordshire’s unique industrial heritage and green, hilly landscape.

The investment will build on work already achieved. Since 2004 RENEW North Staffordshire has improved 1,221 houses, cleared 291 properties and acquired 354 properties in readiness for clearance.

Over 2006-08 RENEW North Staffordshire is proposing to:

improve around 6,000 homes
build around 2,000 new homes
clear around 700 properties
acquire around 900 properties in readiness for clearance.

The £67.5m funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be matched by at least £415m complementary investment from other public sources and from private business – making a total investment programme of at least £482m for 2006-08.

RENEW North Staffordshire’s board will now consider revising the detail of the 2006-08 programme to take account of ODPM’s evaluation of the scheme update and the funding available.

However, at least £47m of the funding will be for the key priority areas of City Centre South and Middleport and Burslem. These areas have the most problems with empty homes and poor housing conditions, but they also have the most potential to help with economic regeneration by offering a modern, urban living with a wide choice of new and old homes.

Peter Bounds, chair of RENEW North Staffordshire, said: “Our bid to ODPM last November was for £70m, in line with guidance at that time. After submitting the bid we but we were told the maximum we could receive was £67 million, so to get more £67.5million now is an excellent achievement.

“This funding award reflects the pressing need to tackle these problems, the high level of community support for our plans and the Government’s confidence in our ability to deliver.
“It is also a tribute to the quality of the case made by RENEW North Staffordshire, the cross-party political support for the programme and the commitment of public and private sector partners to make this programme a success.

“Already the first new homes are being built in City Waterside and in Burslem town centre and we will now see the pace of change speed up

“In 2006-7 we will be investing £30m and in 2007-8 it will go up to £37m, so this programme will grow as the confidence of residents and business grows.

“With the help of our partners we are confident we can now deliver the whole programme in our scheme update and make a major contribution to the comprehensive regeneration of North Staffordshire.”

Mr Bounds added: “Our priority areas are neighbourhoods where not enough people are choosing to live. They are run-down, there is not enough choice of housing and there are many empty homes.

“This investment will help make them become popular and attractive places to live.

“Our plans will also create many jobs for local people in construction and related businesses and we will help attract new business investment because of the radically improved city environment.”
Mark Meredith, elected mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, said: “This is excellent news for Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. It is the largest ever housing regeneration grant in North Staffordshire and it will mean we can really get on with delivering the improvements local people want to see.”

Mr Meredith added: “Hundreds of millions of pounds are now committed to the regeneration of North Staffordshire.

“Working with partners we are creating thousands of new well-paid jobs, creating a new University Quarter, rebuilding our schools, enhancing our heritage, refurbishing our parks and public spaces.

“This will help attract new people to live in Stoke-on-Trent and make previously run-down neighbourhoods popular again.”

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said: "Five years ago, some of these neighbourhoods were one step away from becoming ghost towns, blighted by boarded up houses and anti-social behaviour. Now we are beginning to see real progress in getting these areas back on track, with better housing, improved public services and cleaner, safer streets. We are seeing confidence return to these neighbourhoods and a reversal in the cycle of decline.

"However, challenges still remain. There is still much to do. We are determined to ensure these estates catch up with the urban renaissance happening in our towns and cities. This is a long-term challenge to create places where people want to live and work, not leave. That is why we are allocating a further £67.5 million today in North Staffordshire to support that commitment."

PATHFINDER CLEAN UP COUNTDOWN 2006

Pathfinder Clean Up Countdown is a 14-day kick-start to a cleaner, greener neighbourhood.

Following last summer’s successful neighbourhood clean up we are organising another event for this summer. The idea is to improve the local environment and increase pride in the area by cleaning up problem areas, tackling enviro-crimes and creating a pleasant space in which to live and work.

The countdown will commence on Monday 17th July 2006, with a variety of activities planned across Knutton, Cross Heath and Lower Milehouse, including litter-picks, skip drops, recycling schemes, competitions and work with local schools and will finish with a celebratory fun day on Saturday 29th July 2006.

This year in addition to the organised litter-picks we are looking for residents to organise small litter picks for their street. We will supply all the equipment and support you in litter-picking your street and everyone who participates will be entered into a free raffle to win a variety of prizes! !

If you would like to get involved in an organised litter-pick or you want to set up a litter-pick for your street please contact Emma on 611033 for further information.

All residents and community groups are urged to take part in the clean up and help make it a success.

Masterplanning Questionnaire Prize Draw – We have a Winner !

Included in the information pack delivered to all households in our area, was a survey asking for your opinions about the Masterplanning consultation. It is too early for the results of the opinions expressed to be known but we will use the results to help us improve future consultation events in your area. However the winner of the accompanying prize draw for a lap-top computer and digital camera sponsored by English Partnerships and provided by USER 2 Computers was drawn at the NMP Board Meeting on Thursday 15 September 2005.

The winner is Mr B Eardley, of Cross Heath and the lap-top will now be personalised for his use. Mr Eardley expressed his delight at winning the prize. The questionnaire was easy to complete and return. For 10 minutes work he has won an impressive piece of kit that will allow him to write articles for the RENEW bi-monthly newsletter and gives him access to the Knutton Cross Heath Area of Major Intervention website.

Regeneration Team, Aspire Housing, Kingsley, The Brampton,
Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 0QW. Tel: 01782 635200 Fax: 01782 715498

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