September 2009

Y o u r n e w q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r o n t h e W E H M r e d e v e l o p m e n t

WEHM Redevelopment

It’s starting to take off ...

What is Spirit Quarters?

Timescales for moving

Consultation events

Rumours

...and much more

Inside.....

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Why Spirit Quarters? Before I hear you say what’s this newsletter all about? You may or may not know that most large redevelopment or housing schemes will have an attractive and catchy name (or brand). This brand creates an identity for the area and a talking point. It helps to ‘sell’ the area to people moving in and helps the developers to sell their new homes.

Spirit Quarters was chosen by a panel of people, including local residents, as the best design that refl ects the positive and vibrant feel for the future.

Below, you will see a breakdown of the logo and how it refl ects the vision for this area.

The four colourful lines symbolise the four existing communities in the NDC area – Wood End, Henley Green, Manor Farm and Deedmore.

The brightness and vibrant feel that the lines create, also represent the bright future for this area.

The word Spirit has been used to refl ect the feeling that exists within the NDC area. People who live here have

a passion about their area and the word ‘spirit’ is aimed at refl ecting this passion and enthusiasm.

The word Quarters has been used for two reasons – one is that it is has a defi nition, meaning a place within an area or a dwelling where a person lives, and secondly, to refl ect the four estate names which make up the NDC area – Wood End, Henley Green, Manor Farm and Deedmore

(four quarters of the NDC area). It is a bold word, which portrays confi dence and pride – again, characteristics of residents in the area.

Overall, there is a good mix of colour, vibrancy and impact, which is exactly what we need. It is important that people recognise that there is something ‘happening’ in the area now and they should sit up and take note!

You will start to see more and more of the Spirit Quarters brand around the area, so if your friends and neighbourhood ask you about it – now you know!

This is the fi rst issue of Spirit Quarterly – a brand new newsletter aimed at keeping you up to date on the redevelopment of the area.

Spirit Quarters is the new partnership name for the redevelopment scheme (see page 4) and with the fi rst phase of building starting in May next year -

there is going to be lots of activity going on and you need to hear about it.

As its name suggests, you will receive this newsletter four times a year and it will contain all sorts, from announcements about funding for the scheme to opportunities for you to become involved – there will even be information

on those all important TIMESCALES for when the scheme will affect you.

It is put together by a range of people from organisations that you will be familiar with – Whitefriars Housing Group, New Deal for Communities (NDC), Coventry City Council and the developers – Bovis

Homes, Keepmoat Homes and Westbury Partnerships (BKW).

Please don’t throw me away as I will be your tool for keeping in touch and if you don’t read me – there is no excuse for saying you ‘don’t know what’s going on’!!

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Spirit Quarters is not a new name for the area, you will still live in either Wood End, Henley Green, Manor Farm or Deedmore. Spirt Quarters is the name of the redevelopment scheme.

Who’s who in the Spirit Quarterly scheme?There are more than ten diff erent agencies involved in the WEHM redevelopment scheme over the next 15 years or so. With so many diff erent people involved it’s easy to get confused with who’s do-ing what. Here’s a quick summary of who’s who in the Spirit Quarterly scheme and some of the faces residents may recognise at future consultation events.

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Following early consultation where NDC residents opted for major-scale redevelopment in the WEHM area, BKW was selected from a panel of developers after submitting a detailed proposal on how they would redevelop the area.

The partnership came together in 2005 and is made up of three major housing developers – Bovis Homes, Keepmoat Homes and Westbury Partnership (part of Persimmon Homes). Between the three companies they have over 200 years of development experience with specialist experience in regeneration.

Richard MooreKeepmoat Ltd

Liz LoughranWestbury Partnerships

DevelopersBovis Homes, Keepmoat Homes, Westbury Partnerships (BKW)

Architects Broadway Malyan have been appointed by BKW to design the new homes in the WEHM redevelopment and hold more than 50 years of experience in designing housing schemes and large scale regeneration.

Tony Roche, Associate Director

BM Architecture

ArchitectsBroadway Malyan

White Young Green are the engineering consultants appointed by BKW to design the new highways and drainage infrastructure on Phases 1A1 to 1A4 of the scheme.

The consultancy has around 50 years of experience and will work with BKW on the co-ordination of the designs for the water and electricity services. Andrew Ballinger

Regional Directory

Engineering consultants White Young Green

A second company called BWB Consulting form part of the WYG team and they will be designing the foundations to the new houses and the drainage connections.

WYG will also be carrying out lengthy consultations with Coventry City Council, Severn Trent Water and the Environment Agency to ensure all designs are approved.

The design team will be led by Andrew Ballinger, Regional Director, who will also be attending the forthcoming public consultation events with Broadway Malayan.

Lynn Wassell

Coventry PartnersWhitefriars Housing, Coventry NDC and Coventry City Council

Whitefriars Housing Group is leading this redevelopment on behalf of Whitefriars,

Coventry NDC and Coventry City Council. Project Director Lynn Wassell works for

Whitefriars Housing Group and is supported by Kevin Roach, Head of Regeneration,

Michael Park, Development Manager, Sarah Palmer, Project Offi cer and the

Regeneration Team at Wood End (see page 9).

Simon BridgeBovis Homes

Lance FlanniganDirector of Planning

John DodsonAssociate Director

BM Architecture

Joanne FosterLandscape Architect

They will be working closely with the community to progress Phase 1A through detailed planning and a start on site by early 2010. The team are holding two workshops and an exhibition (see page 8) to cover the 600 homes in Phase 1A.

New Timescales for the WEHM Redevelopment

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So when am I moving?We know that timescales are your number one priority. You also know that timescales have always been difficult for us to pin down. There have been so many unknowns and with such a massive scheme over so many years this is bound to happen.

In 2006, we issued a phasing plan for the scheme with broad timescales when you could expect to be affected by the redevelopment. At the time, we gave you honest estimates to which we were working and unfortunately, due to the housing market collapse and recession, we were unable to meet.

Now that we have a start on site set for May next year, we want to try again to give you broad timescales for when you will be affected by the scheme.

They are still however, estimates, and may still change. The following are the kind of things that could cause us delays:

1 the economic climate2 getting planning approvals 3 how quickly the housing market picks up 4 making sure we get all of the funding in place that we need

Nevertheless this is a really exciting stage to be at and one which we have never reached before. We are starting to see a gradual improvement in the housing market and this time next year, we are aiming to be on site building homes.

*Please note that the dates below are very broad as this reflects the unpredictability of the current housing market.

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There are two opportunities coming up for you to have your say on the first phase of the Spirit Quarters scheme. You will see how the area will look and most important, how your future home will look. Consultation on Phase 1A1 will take place in September and the rest of Phase 1A2-4 in November.

Planning Consultation

Thursday September 24th – Architects Broadway Malyan and White Young Green (see page 4) are hosting a consultation event for residents on section 1A1 at the new Whitefriars Regeneration Office Hillmorton Road from 4pm-7pm (see page 9). This event will have a 3D model of phase 1A1.

Tuesday November 3rd – Architects Broadway Malyan and White Young Green (see page 4) are hosting a consultation event to inform residents about plans for phase 1A2-4 at the new Whitefriars Regeneration Office Hillmorton Road from 2pm-7pm (see page 9). This event will have a computer generated drive-through model of phase 1A1.

DRAFT

Phase 1a – 2010 to 2013 Phase 1b – 2012 to 2015 Phase 1c – 2014 to 2017

Phase 2a – 2016 to 2019 Phase 2b – 2018 to 2021 Phase 2c – 2020 to 2023

Phase 1A1 September 24th

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WEHM Design Code put forwardEarlier this year David Lock Associates (DLA) was selected by a panel of key partners to create a ‘design code’ for phase 1 of the WEHM redevelopment. This design code sets the design rules for streets, planting, the appearance of homes and the character of the new neighbourhood.

Over the summer DLA has worked closely with key partners and local residents to put together a fi nal design code document which has now been submitted to Coventry City Council Planning Department for approval.

Whitefriars Regeneration Team have now moved to the former NDC offi ce on Hillmorton Road (next to the bus stop) and will be open to any residents who would like to hear the latest on the redevelopment.

The new opening times tie in with Whitefriars outreach work when the team carry out offi ce appointments or home visits.

Opening hours: Monday -10am-12pm Tuesday 2pm-4pm Wednesday 10am-12pmThursday 2pm-4pm Friday 10am-12pm

For more information or to contact the Regeneration team for an offi ce appointment or home visit call 02476 587065 or email regenerationteam@whitefriarshousing.co.uk

Spirit Quarters teamThe future looks green for WEHM

Residents of Wood End, Henley Green, Manor Farm and Deedmore can look forward to being one of the most environmentally friendly parts of the city thanks to the Homes and Communities Agency and Coventry City Council.

A pioneering project in the area will receive £1.6 million of funding to create a combined heat and power plant (CHP) that will supply hot water and heating to the fi rst 154 homes on the site, which are due to start being built in May 2010.

This innovative technology will provide hot water from a gas or biomass combined heat and power (CHP) unit.

The project will reduce CO2 emissions by 25% and aims to cut heating bills by 35%! It is also hoped that this will lead the way for a bigger project in the area to make the further 3,300 new homes powered by a CHP system.

Councillor Kevin Foster, Deputy Leader of Coventry City Council said: “This funding is good news for Coventry and means we can now explore and develop innovative solutions and new technologies that will help to reduce the causes and effects of climate change. It also means that local people will feel the benefi ts directly - with reduced fuel bills.

If you would like to fi nd out more about these plans please come along to our consultation events - details are on the back page.

“We are committed to tackling climate change and this award is an important step in enabling us to develop sustainable communities as we strive

to reduce carbon emissions.”

The WEHM Design Code has fi ve parts to it:

New Residents Charter out soon!

Last year the Regeneration Action Team (RATS), the Moving Support Group and Homeowners Focus Group reviewed the original WEHM Residents Charter which was published in 2006.

The groups suggested several changes to the old charter, in particular changes to the options available to homeowners for their re-housing.

These proposals are now being considered by Whitefriars’ Committee in November. If agreed it would mean changes to the current Whitefriars policy however the committee will need to ensure any decision made is in line with its charitable status

The revised Residents Charter will be presented to the Regeneration Action Team for approval at its meeting in November and will then be re-published to all residents in the next edition of Spirit Quarterly (out before Christmas) see page 10 for more information on RATS.

green for WEHM

environmentally friendly parts of the city thanks to the Homes and Communities Agency and Coventry City Council.

A pioneering project in the area will receive £1.6 million of funding to create a combined heat and power plant (CHP) that will supply hot water and heating to the fi rst 154 homes on the site, which are due to start being built in May 2010.

This innovative technology will provide hot water from a gas or biomass combined heat and power (CHP) unit.

The project will reduce CO2 emissions by 25% and aims to cut heating bills by 35%! It is also hoped that this will lead the way for a bigger project in the area to make the further 3,300

Residents of Wood End, Henley Green, Manor Farm and Deedmore can look forward to being one of the most environmentally friendly parts of the city thanks to the Homes and Communities Agency and Coventry City Council.

A pioneering project in the area will receive £1.6 million of funding to create a combined heat and power plant (CHP) that will supply hot water and heating to the fi rst 154 homes on the site, which are due to start being built in May 2010.

This innovative technology will provide hot water from a gas or biomass combined heat and power (CHP) unit.

The project will reduce CO2 emissions by 25% and aims to cut heating bills by 35%! It is also hoped that this will lead the way for a bigger project in the area to make the further 3,300

Part 1 - A strategy for sustainability (meeting the ‘green’ agenda and creating a strong community)

Part 2 - Place making and character for the area

Part 3 - Street layout and open spaces

Part 4 - Character areas and building guidelines (e.g. size/height/density of homes, materials to be used)

Part 5 - Regulatory plans for redevelopment (e.g. where roads will go, feature buildings)

A quick guide to design codes!A design code is a document that sets the rules for the design of a new development. It sets the guidelines for the architects (see page 4) to produce the more detailed design plan called the Reserved Matters plan.

Some of the issues a design code will look at:

Street layouts

Building materials

Homes layout

Refuse and recycling points

If you would like to know more about the proposed design code you can visit the new Whitefriars Regeneration Offi ce on Hillmorton Road.

Simon Bridge from BKW said: “The purpose of the Design Code is to build on the vision of the masterplan and provide a set of design rules to guide the detailed designs needed for the reserved matters planning application.

“The benefi t of setting out the rules before detailed designs are produced is that it helps gain early agreement between stakeholders, ensures the designs will achieve the required quality standards, and can speed things up! We are really grateful to Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency, for paying for this key piece of work.”

The Whitefriars Regeneration team have now completed the 1st round of home visits to update every household directly affected by the redevelopment scheme. The team door-knocked over 2,000 homes within the WEHM area to offer advice on issues like scheme timescales, home loss payments, homeowner queries, the moving out process (decanting) and anything else residents wished to discuss about the redevelopment happening in the area. The door-knocking team also used the visits to listen to any concerns as well as identifying additional support households that may require translation services or transport to future meetings. The team were accompanied by a dedicated resident member of the Moving Support Group to make sure local people’s needs were a priority and to give advice from a resident perspective. In addition to this NDC’s Community Involvement Team also provided support to the team during visits.

As the decanting process begins, the Regeneration Team and the Moving Support Group will continue to visit individual households to support residents in their re- housing requirements. They will continue to visit households as the scheme progresses and each home will be given a dedicated Regeneration Team officer to tackle any concerns they may have to ensure a relatively smooth moving process.

Tony Greenwood, Area Services Manager said: “The home visit programme itself has been quite a feat! We have met a lot of residents and it is important that we continue to maintain the positive links we are building with the community.”

Door knocking so far.........

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If you would like more information of where the door knocking team will be out

next or to arrange a home visit please call the Whitefriars Regeneration Team on

024 7658 7065 or visit the Hillmorton Road office. (see page 9)

Whitefriars Future visits…Thursday 24th September Deedmore Road- old school siteAs work could start on site as early as January 2010, the team will be visiting households around the old Deedmore Rd School site on the 24th September. Developers BKW will also be writing to all residents around this area to advise them of the works to be done.

Home visit programmeDeedmore Rd (between Henley Rd and Winston Ave)Petitor CrescentHenley Rd (nearby junction of Deedmore Rd) Eccles CloseDering CloseGeorge Park Close

October – NovemberPhase 1A residents and homeowners.........Whitefriars will be arranging home visit appointments during October to every household in phase 1A. This will fully inform residents on what is happening, set out a planned timetable to include moving out dates and re-housing options and choices, with emphasis on supporting residents and homeowners. Each household will be contacted beforehand to arrange a specific appointment time.

Home visit programme.Bretford Rd, Fulbrook Rd, Hasley RdHillmorton Rd (No’s 25-161), Lapworth RdPetitor Crescent (No’s 17-25)River Walk (No’s 140-150)

Residents who are members of the RATS group (see Photo) have been busy gathering rumours that are going around the area about the redevelopment. See if you recognise any rumours and PLEASE put people right with the facts if you hear any.

Redevelopment Rumours

The Regeneration Action Team (RATS!) are the group of residents that meet every six weeks to be involved in the redevelopment of the area. They get to hear news first and also influence early decisions before going out to the wider consultation. They have been involved in select-ing the developers, how the outline planning application looked and also how residents are communicated with.

They are an important group and have made sure the Spirit Quarters scheme has the existing community at its heart.

If you would like to become involved in the RATS group then please come along to their next meeting –

Thursday 1st October6.30-8pmNew Whitefriars Office on Hillmorton Road

Regeneration Action Team - RATS!

If you would like to speak to someone beforehand and perhaps buddy-up with someone else who is attending for the first time then please contact the Whitefriars Regen-eration Team on 024 7658 7065 or pop in to see them at their offices on Hillmorton Road (the old NDC office).

Rumour: The redevelopment isn’t really going to happen.

Answer: Untrue. From January next year, you will start to see work happening around Deedmore as preparatory work gets underway. Then, in May, you will see the first homes being built. This is assuming everything goes to plan (see page 6). We hope this activity will prove to the sceptics that activity is happening and the scheme will happen.

Rumour: The new homes are going to be like matchboxes – really small Answer: Untrue. for two reasons. Firstly, nobody has actually seen the house types that are going into the scheme yet. These will be on display for the first time at the two planning events in September and November (see back page). Secondly, ALL houses being built will be of a high specification due to the funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (government) which comes with clear guidelines about how homes have to be built. HCA space standards are more generous then previously planned and all homes will be ‘tenure blind’ which means you won’t be able to tell between rented properties and owned properties.

Rumour: NDC is finishing in 2011, which means there is no £54million anymore so it won’t happen.

Answer: Untrue. NDC’s £54million was given in 2001 to spend on regenerating the area (not just redeveloping). This means it was given to tackle issues like education, employment, crime and health. NDC has spent some of its money on improving green spaces but most of the physical regeneration of the area was happening through the redevelopment scheme, which is funded by developers and central government and not by NDC. NDC did fund early work on the production of the masterplan but not on building homes, so even though NDC does come to an end in 2011 – the redevelopment will still happen. For more information on what NDC has spent its £54million on – read Your Shout or visit www.coventryndc.org.uk

RATS residents who sit on Communications Focus Group with Diana & Joh from the NDC (far right)

Thursday September 24th Broadway Malyan and White Young Green (see page 4) are hosting a consultation event for residents living in section 1A1. NEW Whitefriars Regeneration Office Hillmorton Road4pm-7pm (page 9)

Friday October 23rdBKW (see page 4) aim to submit the planning application for phase 1A1 to the City Council Planning Department.

Tuesday November 3rd Broadway Malyan and White Young Green (see page 4) are hosting a consultation event to inform residents about plans for phase 1A2-4.NEW Whitefriars Regeneration Office Hillmorton Road2pm-7pm (page 9)

Tuesday December 1st BKW (see page 4) aim to submit the planning application for sections 1A2, 3 and 4.

December to January BKW (see page 4) to finalise contract to deliver phase 1A1 following the decision made from City Council.

January 2010*Start on start could potentially begin with early work beginning on road infrastructure.

April 2010 *Start of site will officially begin for phase 1A1.

October 2010*First properties in phase 1A1 will be completed.

All these dates may change depending on the circumstances of all partners involved. You can read all about what’s planned for next year and the feedback from local residents at the consultation events in the next edition of Spirit Quarterly – out in December!

Dates for your diary…

Spirit Quarters is brought to you by:

This scheme is supported by

edited and design by: Purple Patch Communications Coventry’s first communications social enterprise.