Property round-up: Hyde masterplan; Hive Homes; Cassidy + Ashton; Onward Homes; St Helens Chamber; Onward Homes
Consultation opens this week on the draft vision and masterplan proposals to reinvigorate Hyde town centre.
The creation of a masterplan for Hyde is crucial to support the town’s future as it will enable the council to seek further funding sources to realise plans for the future. It will present the driving vision for regenerating the town centre and the strategy and approach needed to help make it a reality.
Since September 2022, the consultant team has led a series of meetings and workshops with businesses, residents’ groups, students, and other stakeholders. The initial fact-finding survey received more than 1,300 responses, and around 200 people attended in person events including the pop-up shop in the Clarendon Centre.
The valuable insight and feedback from this engagement has been considered and has shaped the vision, development objectives and designs for key areas of the town centre.
Proposals seek to re-imagine and utilise Hyde’s most important assets, such as the Town Hall, with a cultural and community focus, while public realm upgrades to Market Square will prioritise the use of the square for cultural events, festival, pop-ups, and placemaking activities that bring vibrancy, excitement, and diversity to the town centre.
The priorities also include a re-imagined shopping area which would offer more accessibility, including pedestrianised areas and traffic calming measures. Improved public realm is proposed throughout the masterplan area, creating safe, attractive pedestrian environments that can be enjoyed all year round, with improved seating, lighting, and increased planting and greenery.
A survey will be hosted online, and posters will be going up across the town centre alongside a social media campaign encouraging everyone to take part. There will also be local in person community engagement sessions and local drop in’s taking place at the Clarendon Shopping Centre in Hyde.
Wayne Hemingway, partner at HemingwayDesign, part of the masterplan team, said: “The draft vision and masterplan proposals for Hyde town centre have been shaped by 1,500 residents, workers and visitors of Hyde who shared valuable insight during the initial fact-finding period. We believe the proposals are a true representation of the engagement thus far and we look forward to receiving further feedback to inform the preparation of the final masterplan report.”
Cllr Vimal Choksi, Tameside executive member for towns and communities, said: “We are looking to develop a masterplan with aspirations which could help to achieve real change in Hyde town centre.
“Input from residents and businesses is vital to ensure that we shape the town’s future the way that people want us to, they are, after all, the ones who will use it. The team will be engaging with a wide range of local community and business groups throughout the consultation.
“I would encourage everyone to take a look at the ideas and aspirations and then please give us their valuable feedback for consideration by completing the short survey and let’s keep talking about Hyde.”
To view the plans and provide feedback via the survey go to www.thinkhydetowncentre.co.uk. The consultation will be open until Sunday, July 9, 2023.
In person sessions will take place at the Clarendon Shopping Centre in Hyde on Friday, June 30, and Saturday, July 1, 2023, and information will be on display at Hyde Market and in Hyde Library and the Bangladeshi Welfare Association where residents can pick up a paper copy of the survey.
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Hive Homes site visit
Twenty eight two- and three-bedroom new homes are being built on a vacant plot off Woodland Close, Bolton, close to St Catherine’s Academy.
To celebrate the beginning of the work, developer Hive Homes was joined by Middleton-based contractors J Greenwood Builders to mark the first spade in the ground.
The development – which will offer open-market homes – will be called Woodland Gardens, a name which pays tribute to the road that leads up to this new development.
Hive Homes, based in Chorlton, believes these much needed new homes will support the requirements of local people, respect the existing character of the local area and reflect a similar road pattern and design of other nearby developments, in terms of height, style and materials.
The homes will be developed over the coming months and each will offer a private garden, electric vehicle charging point and contemporary specification. With great connections to other Manchester boroughs and Manchester city centre, these properties will be perfect for growing families or first-time buyers seeking a spacious, modern and energy efficient new home.
Ed Milner, Hive Homes managing director, said: “We’re excited to be bringing these much needed homes to Bolton, after receiving great support from Bolton Council and local people. These homes will be built to a high specification without a hefty price tag that other developers may charge, so we are sure that they will benefit many people and families within the area.”
Adrian Rooney, managing director of J Greenwood Builders, said: “We’re looking forward to working with Hive Homes on our first project together. This is a wonderful opportunity for us, our consultants and supply chain to provide these new family homes.”
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Eastgate Row
Chester architectural, planning and building surveying practice, Cassidy + Ashton, has handed over a city centre residential conversion scheme on Eastgate Street, a project which is part of Chester’s One City Plan, a strategy to guide the city’s future economic regeneration.
Vacant upper floors in the Grade II-listed building at 19 Eastgate Steet have been converted into residential accommodation. The building, which dates to the 1860s, is one of a number of examples in Chester’s retail district, where upper floors have been predominantly empty for a number of years.
The completed Eastgate scheme consists of five apartments, including the refurbishment of an existing two-bedroom penthouse apartment, offering stunning views across the city centre and Cathedral. The project saw the sensitive refurbishment of the apartments over four floors and a retail unit to the ground floor level, respecting and retaining original historic features.
Cassidy + Ashton worked on behalf of the property’s managing agent, Legat Owen, and the building owners, Chums Ltd. It delivered the project from inception to completion, from an initial feasibility to working closely with the local planning authority and the conservation team to achieve planning and listed building consent and subsequently with the contractor for the on-site works.
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Hyndburn residents priced out of local housing have been boosted by the completion of an affordable scheme in Rishton.
Housing association Onward Homes and SME housebuilder Watson Homes recently handed over Melrose House, a 24-home apartment building on the banks of the Leeds-Liverpool canal, completing their 59-home Spring Street development.
The modern Melrose House apartment building marks the final phase of housebuilding at Spring Street, which has a total of 47 homes for affordable rent and 12 for shared ownership.
Onward’s latest housebuilding project with Watson Homes has provided a range of new homes for affordable rent and affordable home ownership, helping local people put down firm roots in the area. To ensure they remain sustainable for the future, all apartments at Melrose House feature high levels of insulation and airtightness, as well as low-carbon heating systems.
Air source heat pumps attached to each home produce hot water very efficiently, resulting in a building that should be more affordable to run and better for the environment over the long term.
All homes at Spring Street are designed to support first time buyers, couples and individuals who may feel priced out of the local area. As well as homes and apartments for affordable rent, 12 homes have been made available for shared ownership, with prices starting from as little as £70,000 for a 40% share.
Rishton’s Spring Street development was supported by funding from Homes England, the Government’s housing delivery vehicle. Onward’s Strategic Partnership with Homes England, which was announced last year, will enable the housing association to build 5,000 new homes by 2030, with 3,208 being delivered directly through the partnership.
Stephen Heverin, growth and regeneration director at Onward, said: “Spring Street has improved the choice of high quality, affordable housing in this part of Hyndburn, and we are really pleased to see the final residents move into our modern apartment building.”
Mike Watson, director at Watson Homes, said: “The project directly supports Hyndburn Borough Council’s part in the wider Pennine Lancashire Housing Strategy, which views quality and affordable housing as a key ingredient of economic and social inclusion.”
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Hardshaw Street site
St Helens Chamber is to plough the revenue savings and a capital receipt from its latest asset review into a range of successful services.
The chamber has placed a surplus 4,074 sq ft building on Hardshaw Street in St Helens town centre on the market, priced at £350k, and will use the sale proceeds to deliver more of its in-demand courses for employers and young people.
Annually more than 2,000 people attend courses and receive careers support at the chamber, in subjects ranging from bookkeeping and digital marketing to interview skills and preparation for apprenticeships. Savings of £44,000 annually, plus the capital receipt from the sale of the building, will allow the chamber to deliver more support, says Tracy Mawson, its chief executive: “We periodically review our assets to make sure we are making best use of them and that they are helping us achieve our mission of making St Helens a competitive and attractive place for employers,” she says.
“Releasing 4-6 Hardshaw Street back to the market will create jobs in its refurbishment and allow new uses to emerge as the town centre continues its regeneration. It’s a prominent former bank building and I’ll be interested to follow its next iteration.”
The building was acquired more than 22 years ago and had been fitted out as a training and advice centre, with a hair salon on the second floor. Potential next uses could be for retail or a restaurant on the ground floor, with residential above.
Tracy said: “This is a popular pedestrianised street in the heart of the town centre and we expect interest in the building to be high. Subject to planning, it lends itself to a number of uses and has the benefit of a lift to all floors.”
The building is set to close later this year, with service users being transferred to the chamber’s main building on Salisbury Street, or community-based locations around the borough. No courses or services are being discontinued or changed, and a purpose-built salon will be hired to deliver the chamber’s popular hairdressing courses.
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Elm Tree apartments
A new apartment building in Walton, North Liverpool, has been fully occupied only two weeks after completion.
Elm Tree Apartments, a development of five houses and 18 one- and two-bedroom apartments for affordable rent through North West housing association Onward, was recently handed over by SME contractor Young Homes.
All apartments were occupied within just 14 days, demonstrating the clear demand for affordable homes in the area.
The two- and three-bed apartments were designed by Onward in partnership with Paddock Johnson Architects to help local people find high quality, affordable housing at the heart of the Walton community. The apartment building sits on the former site of the Elm Tree Pub, alongside five new houses completed in 2022.
This latest development with Young Homes was part funded by Homes England. Onward’s Strategic Partnership with Homes England, which was announced last year, will enable the housing association to build 5,000 new homes by 2030, with 3,208 being delivered directly through the partnership.
Stephen Heverin, growth and regeneration director at Onward, said: “This latest development with Young Homes is a great example of partnership working to deliver high quality, affordable homes in places where they are needed most.
“We are committed to working with local SME contractors to improve the affordability and choice of housing, which will be key to the regeneration of Walton and the wider area. Spending our Northern Pound effectively will also help support economic growth in our communities.”
Patrick Young, of Young Homes, said: “This is our second development in partnership with Onward Homes and, again, is another great example of providing high quality, affordable homes in local areas, where they are needed most.
“Together, with Onward and the local councillor, we have transformed this from a run-down space prone to anti-social behaviour into a modern, energy-efficient residential area, comprising five houses and 18 one- and two-bedroom apartments.”
