13th May 2010

Balloon goes up at the new Chestnut Grange extra-care development

40 Children from Anglesey Primary School have released 500 balloons to officially mark completion of the demolition of a former sheltered housing scheme and care home for older people.

Also taking part in the ceremony, which is an important phase in Burton’s exciting new Chestnut Grange housing development, were Matthew Ellis, lead cabinet member for Adults and Well-being at Staffordshire County Council, John Jackson, chairman of Trent & Dove Housing and Richard Baker, Regional director of Walsall based, Bullocks Construction.

The Anglesey Road site of Staffordshire County Council’s Horace Pritchard House and Trent & Dove’s Anglesey Court sheltered scheme has been cleared to make way for the multi-million pound, state of the art, older people’s housing complex which is to be known as Chestnut Grange after local people suggested a new name for the new building. Once completed there will be 67 apartments of which 52 will be for rent and 15 for shared ownership and included within the complex will be a hairdressing salon and restaurant. Each of the apartments will be wired up to the latest hi-tech telecare systems to ensure that help can be quickly on hand for those at risk.

The new scheme, which will be ready to open its doors in November 2011, is expected to enable older people whose health is deteriorating to maintain their independence with the reassurance of on-site care and support when it’s needed, reducing the need to move in the future.

The £8.5M scheme which has been made possible by a grant from the Homes & Communities Agency is a collaboration between Trent & Dove Housing and Staffordshire County Council.

Speaking at the event Matthew Ellis said: “This is a fantastic example of the County Council and partners coming together to provide something which will greatly benefit the local community and make a huge difference to the lives of people who live here.

The flexibility that these schemes offer means that older and vulnerable people can live a life rather than existing with a range of facilities and services available.  They provide a home for life so that people who have more complex needs can receive on-site care 24/7 if or when it’s needed.

Looking to the future we want to see more and more of these schemes being developed in Staffordshire to give people the opportunity to benefit from them.  We need to work with partners like we have done with Trent & Dove to look at how we can continue to bring our resources together imaginatively to provide more choice for older and vulnerable people throughout the county.”

John Jackson, chair of Trent & Dove, spoke of his pleasure at the provision of such a facility in Burton; “I recall the mayor of Burton, Horace Pritchard who gave his name to the care home which was innovative in its day, he would have been extremely pleased to see that, having served its purpose well, it is now to be replaced with modern, up to date facilities that will transform people’s lives for a further period of time.  It is a fantastic opportunity for Trent & Dove and Staffordshire County Council to bring such a wonderful scheme to Burton People and I know that our contractor, Bullock Construction, will turn the dream into reality. Thanks also must go to the Homes & Communities Agency for their financial investment which has made this scheme possible.”

Each of the balloons released at the ceremony represents a child at the school and a number of prizes will be awarded to the children in the order that the found balloon tickets are phoned in to us at Trent & Dove.

Children from Anglesey Primary School releasing balloons to mark the completion of demolition works at the Chestnut Grange extra-care site.

Key figures from Trent & Dove Housing, Staffordshire County Council and Bullock Construction with the Mayor and Mayoress and children from Anglesey Primary School at the demolition of Anglesey Court/Horace Pritchard House.

Back Row: Richard Baker (Regional Director of Bullock Construction); Cllr.Geoff Morrison (Mayor); Pauline Morrison (Mayoress); Matthew Ellis, (Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing at Staffordshire County Council); John Jackson (Chairman of Trent & Dove Housing); Nick Bell, Chief Executive Staffordshire County Council.

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