“Well Worth Waiting!” Local Resident Praises The Willows Development

The demolition by Trent & Dove Housing of 76 decrepit concrete flats at St John’s Square in Uttoxeter has now reached an important milestone, with Phase 1 of the new development being officially opened by Margaret Allen, Field Director (Central), of the Housing Corporation. 

Speaking at the ceremony attended by local residents and representatives from building contractors, Bullock Construction, and also Trent & Dove Housing’s partners and staff, she said, “it is a fantastic achievement by Trent & Dove to have brought the project to life following the first presentation to residents where it used a 3d film walkthrough, to help people visualise what the area would be like once the new homes were built.”  She looked forward to the completion of the scheme and also drew attention to the company’s other major scheme in Rocester that is just starting. 

Nick Parsons, a local resident who has been closely involved in the development at the Willows through the resident’s panel said, “Looking around these properties today and seeing where some residents have already moved into their new homes confirms that the inconvenience of the last few months has been worth the wait.  

He also paid tribute to staff at Trent & Dove naming Kath Jennings, Dawn Maddin, Paul Blackshaw and Lynne Hill in particular saying, “the work and effort they have put in to get the minimal disruption for local people is unbelievable, no wonder Trent & Dove has been named as one of the best housing associations in the country.” 

Trent & Dove Chief Executive, Ron Dougan said ‘this has represented our biggest challenge so far. When we took over the properties from the Council we only had enough money to do minor improvements to the flats. It took over two years to come up with a financially feasible solution that has enabled us to demolish the old concrete flats and build these beautiful new homes, which anyone would be proud to live in. It’s been a lot of hard work, but the result has been well worth it – together we have transformed this corner of Uttoxeter forever’. 

The old flats are being replaced with 88 new properties consisting of a mix of bungalows, houses and apartments and will provide a mixture of both social rented housing and shared ownership so that the people of Uttoxeter will have flexibility in the way in which they can access affordable housing. 38 of these properties will be for rent with 50 available on a shared ownership basis. 

This first phase of new properties will help eleven households from Riversfield Drive, Rocester whose properties have been earmarked for demolition over the next few months.  Six households have already moved into their new homes with the remaining tenants moving into their new homes by the end of January 2007. 

One family is purchasing their first home through the shared ownership scheme enabling them to take the first step onto the housing ladder. 

The move to The Willows means that these residents will spend this winter in centrally heated modern accommodation allowing Trent and Dove to begin redeveloping Riversfield Drive in the spring of 2007. Overall cost of both schemes is expected to be around £15m.

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