New Lodge recommendations agreed by Council Cabinet
A recommendation has been agreed by the Council’s Cabinet to enable the building of 155 new homes in the New Lodge estate.
The demolition of 165 existing homes in New Lodge has been approved to provide sites for the new homes.
Previous consultation with residents of New Lodge has identified the key housing issues:
- Non traditional houses that are expensive to keep warm in winter, have outdated facilities and are in need of substantial investment
- Lack of choice for new affordable houses to rent or for shared ownership
- Poor quality environment and communal areas
In September 2008, the Council’s Cabinet considered a report recommending that residents of New Lodge be consulted about proposals to tackle housing issues on the estate.
One of the major recommendations was for selective demolition of some homes in New Lodge to create sites to build new homes on the estate.
The Cabinet agreed the recommendations in principle subject to further consultation with residents who would be affected by the proposal.
In October 2008 officers from Berneslai Homes Regeneration Team visited all the households in New Lodge that were included in the recommendation for demolition.
A significant number of people supported the recommendations with 70% in favour of demolition proposals and plans to build new homes on the cleared sites.
The final cabinet report recommending demolition and new build was drafted with the support of the majority of residents affected by the demolitions.
Council Cabinet considered the final recommendations at their meeting on 9 April 2008 and have given their approval to go ahead with the proposals.
The residents of those homes that are to be demolished will be re-housed over the next 2 to 3 years. It is necessary to manage the re-housing for demolition in phases and the project team will be visiting those homes in the first phase in the near future.
This is the start of a major demolition, re-building and improvement programme that will see £17m investment in New Lodge over the coming years.
END