Two major projects in Mansfield to build 99 high quality, eco-friendly council homes let at an affordable rent are moving forward.
One of the schemes will see an expansion of the Poppy Fields development at Centenary Road with 77 homes for older people and families, built at a cost of £14.8m.
The other, costing £5.7m, involves demolishing a row of flats and shops in Egmanton Road on the Bellamy Road estate and replacing them with 22 family homes built round a "village green" with a play area.
All the homes will be offered for affordable rents and will be owned and managed by Mansfield District Council.
A delegated decision to approve the schemes and take them forward, subject to planning consent, was taken by Cllr Marion Bradshaw, Portfolio Holder for Safer Communities, Housing and Wellbeing on Monday 18 January.
Final approval for the funding requirements of the schemes will be taken by the Full Council on 27 January.
Subject to planning and financial approvals, work on the schemes is expected to start later this year.
The council's in-house Architects are designing these homes to align with government carbon reduction targets and to the Future Homes Standard, expected to be adopted nationally by 2025.
The standard requires new homes to be future-proofed with low carbon heating and high energy efficiency with an average semi-detached home producing 75% to 80% fewer carbon dioxide emissions than one built to current Building Regulations.
Cllr Bradshaw said: "These are significant schemes which we are very proud of and will deliver a variety of much needed affordable new council housing for both families and older people. In particular, one of them will help address a district-wide shortage of two-bedroom bungalows.
"These schemes align with all four of the key council strategic priorities for Growth, Wellbeing, Aspiration and Place.
"Among the themes of this strategies are targets to develop a better and wider mix of housing across the district.
"All the homes will be built to a higher specification than is currently required to future proof them for expected new housing standards and make them flexible living spaces that can adapt to tenants' changing needs over their lifetime.
"They will not only offer an excellent quality of the life for the tenants who will live in these new homes, but deliver improvements that will benefit the wider neighbourhoods around these schemes, too.
"The construction of them will also provide work and supply chain opportunities for local people and businesses at a time when we need to support our local economy as much as possible in the midst of the terrible effects of the coronavirus pandemic."
Centenary Road Development
The development of the Centenary Road scheme (formerly Brownlow Road) is the third and final phase of a flagship council project to clear an area renowned for poor quality, low demand and empty housing and anti-social behaviour, and transform it with a total of 161 high quality council homes to rent, mostly for older people.
The first and second phases for 64 extra care homes and a further 20 properties for older people was completed in 2016.
Work on the third phase is set to start in the late part of 2021. There will be 29 general needs houses and apartments and 48 apartments and bungalows for older people comprising:
• 14 two-bedroom houses
• 10 three-bedroom houses
• 1 four-bedroom house
• 1 one-bedroom apartment
• 3 two-bedroom apartments
• 8 one bedroom apartments for older people
• 24 two-bedroom apartments for older people
• 16 two-bedroom bungalows for older/disabled people
All the housing for older people will be designed with wheelchair users in mind and the family housing will be built to the Lifetime Homes Standard. This ensures the houses can cater for any future changes to occupants’ health needs.
They will include features such as larger car parking spaces to allow disabled access, a large downstairs toilet which can be adapted to a wet room, larger halls and wider doors to allow wheelchair access and a main bedroom which has the potential for a hoist to be fitted to allow hoist access to the bathroom.
The layout of the development will prevent car rat-runs and creates a pleasant low-traffic environment. It will be conducive for pedestrians and cyclists and also provide green corridors for nature.
Bellamy Road Community Heart Housing Development
This scheme would see the redevelopment of the central area of the Bellamy Road estate.
It includes demolishing existing shops and 11 flats in Egmanton Road and building housing around new open space with a play area, children’s cycle path, seating, community orchard and raised beds.
There would also be a new shop, CCTV, and a new traffic-calmed through road connecting Thorpe Road and Egmanton Road which will allow for improved bus connections through this part of the estate.
The council originally approved a masterplan in 2013 to regenerate the 1970s Radburn style Bellamy Road estate to tackle issues of ill-defined spaces and anti-social behaviour associated with the estate's layout.
Following extensive consultation with residents, landlords and key organisations involved with life on the estate, the masterplan aimed to create a more inclusive, safer and sustainable community, offering a better quality of life and more opportunity for children's recreation and physical activity.
Delivery of the scheme had to be postponed in 2016 because of a lack of funding due to a national government rent policy which required social landlords to reduce their rents by 1% each year for four years.
This policy ended in March 2020 and the council can now increase rents by up to 1% above the Consumer Price Index which has allowed the council the funds to bring forward the development.
The new housing would comprise:
3 four-bedroom semi-detached houses
8 three-bedroom semi-detached houses
9 two-bedroom semi-detached houses
2 two-bedroom detached houses.
Meeting council priorities
Both the developments are considered to meet all four of the council’s strategic priorities of Place, Wellbeing, Growth and Aspiration .
The Place strategy aims to encourage a positive image of the district by creating a clean, green infrastructure that supports and enhances the quality of life for residents.
Wellbeing targets are met by creating an accessible open space with play facilities and by building high quality energy efficient homes to support a good quality of life for residents.
Part of the Growth strategy includes developing a better and wider mix of housing across the district.
Aspiration targets are met because the construction work in this scheme will maximising the use of local labour and local supply chains.