Events

Chester Point - Chester and District Housing Trust

Sustainable communities award commendation 2011

Summary

The redevelopment of a previously hard-to-let housing estate on the outskirts of Chester has utilised the commitment of the local residents association to achieve an impressive turnaround in the condition of the estate.

Background

Blacon is a very large area of social housing on the outskirts of Chester. The area suffered from poor management and experienced significant problems of anti-social behaviour with extensive drug misuse and vandalism. The outcome was increasing dereliction, boarded up and empty properties as tenants moved out of the area. Accommodation was becoming increasing hard to let. A cycle of deprivation had begun which was hard to address.

The Treborth Road Residents Association was set up with the objective of stimulating action from the appropriate authorities to address these severe problems. This marked the beginning of a genuine community based action group taking charge of a problem and addressing it.

Project description

The response was the preparation of a masterplan for the area involving the residents association. This coincided with a large scale voluntary transfer of the housing stock to the Chester and District Housing Trust. The Trust identified Blacon as a priority and set out to involve the local community in identifying what needed to be done. A phased scheme of redevelopment and refurbishment was drawn up with residents involved in selecting a developer partner. The first phase of 156 new homes is now complete.

An important initiative involved the drawing up a community lettings policy aimed at ensuring that new tenants could maintain a tenancy and that they showed a commitment to the well being of the community. This was backed up by a good neighbour agreement. A network of support was set up to assist those tenants experiencing problems. Local residents have taken charge of the use of funds for maintenance and improvements and are involved in all decisions which affect the area. One outcome of this is that local labour is used on the estate, and in conjunction with the developer a number of apprenticeships have been created.

Planning achievement

The outcome has been the transformation of the area from a rundown neglected area where few wished to live to an area which is desirable in which people are proud to live;
A genuine strong community has emerged from this situation. The improvements are environmental, social and economic and are a prime example of local communities implementing a localism agenda;
The scale of achievement and the turnaround in the condition of the estate is impressive.