Hello!
Welcome to our April blog update about our work in Somerton
Our last Resident Steering Group meeting was on 6 April at Nexus House, with a combination of people attending in person and online. 13 residents attended, and Terry and Andrew from Oxford Architects popped in too, to talk through the design activity we’re working on.
You can read the minutes in full here.
From the last meeting
In the last meeting, residents raised queries about the refurbishment scheme and whether homeowners will have the opportunity to buy into the scheme. We have commissioned Curtains to carry out intrusive surveys on 10 properties on the estate, once we have the information from these surveys we can update the homeowners.
Parking was raised as a concern for the design of Acacia Avenue, we are working with our procurement tem to get a transport consultant on board so we can look into this issue
Project plan
The project plan was shown with the key milestones for March, during this month we sent out a quarterly newsletter. The community consultation event went ahead on 30 March at the Hope Centre
In April we will be continuing to work with the design team to explore further options for different areas in Somerton.
We will also be looking at carrying out further surveys on Newport City Council land, we are currently in discussions with them on this
Financial advisor
Unfortunately a company that we were in discussions with have withdrawn their interest, however we have been in contact with 3 other companies, these have been sent the procurement documents. These companies all have relative experience and we will be meeting with our procurement team to get the recruitment process moving. We are hopeful to appoint one of the companies over the next few weeks
Refurbishment activity
Curtains are undertaking intrusive surveys to 10 void properties within the estate. Works commenced week of 21 March. Works are likely to take until the end of April to complete. Whilst this work is ongoing we understand that there will be additional noise but please bear with us and we will do our best to keep the noise to a minimum. The findings from this work will help us to draw up specification and look at how we can start putting a pilot refurbishment programme together.
One resident queried if the same works will be carried out to all properties, until we receive the report from Curtains from the intrusive surveys then we don’t know what works are required, however there could be range of issues within these properties and a one size doesn’t fit all, so we need to wait for the report to come in form Curtains. The steering group will be kept updated as we move through this process.
A resident wanted to query if it is just the void properties we are looking at and currently it is as they are more likely to represent the worst of the issues.
During discussion a resident wanted to know if these surveys will look at whether we refurbish certain properties or definitely refurbish certain areas. If Somerton we are looking at a hybrid approach which will look at regeneration of the estate and refurbishment, for the areas that we cannot be regenerated then we will look at refurbishment. No decisions have been made as to the areas or properties that will be refurbished
Design Updates
Andrew form Oxford Architects explained that he will give a summary of the slides form the previous meeting, update on the designs for Acacia Avenue and Laburnum Drive and will review the feedback from the community consultation event and a walkabout with Somerton Primary school.
The housing need for Somerton has been reviewed and we are looking to provide a good mix of homes, attractive smaller accommodation which could include 1 and 2 bedroom flats. The majority of homes in Somerton are smaller than the current standards.
Basic information has been sent to Newport City Council planning department in the form of a pre application enquiry. A meeting via teams was held on the 16 March and the feedback consisted of:
- Ground floor properties to receive as much natural light as possible
- Existing trees to be retained where possible
- Transport and travel plan will be required
- Need to justify that existing allotments are redundant
- Provide details on change of levels across the site
A design update on Laburnum Drive was given
- Review existing level across this street
- Analyse various points at the end of the street to understand level variations
- Explore options to adjust the levels and improve vehicle and pedestrian access
Community consultation event had over 70 people attend, we received a wide range of feedback, and once this has been collated we will be circulating the feedback
Andrew and colleagues met up with the primary school to look at the constraints and access around the school site and anti-social behaviour at one of the schools access points. The schools feedback has been taken on board and where we can we will look at opportunities to improve access and visibility to the school
The next steps are to discuss:
- Review feedback from the consultation event
- Review formal written pre-app feedback for Acacia Avenue and agree the next steps to develop the design proposal
- Continue reviewing the opportunities and constraints along Laburnum Drive and develop a design concept plan
- Review other possible regeneration sites within Somerton
We hope that this blog has been useful – if you have any questions, or if there’s anything you’d like us to cover in future blogs, please get in touch with us at community@newportcityhomes.com.
Thanks,
The Somerton team