Programme and Project Details
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Project Details for Meir
A new community facility for Meir
A pair of semi-detached houses has been transformed into a new community resource centre.
The Meir ‘alleygating’ programme
A programme of alleyway gating across the area is underway, giving residents improved security and communal space.
The Lyme Road housing scheme
Planning permission has been granted for 46 new homes, providing a range of housing choices
The Woodville Road ‘gateway’ refurbishment project
This scheme aims to give the estate a new entry point – two houses, transformed by refurbishment, are open for viewing.
Rowan Village Extra Care Facility
A large development providing 75 homes – half for sale and half for rent - and support services for older people.
Working in partnership with Great Places Housing Group and in consultation with residents – through the Meir Community Steering Group - RENEW North Staffordshire has already started building a better future for Meir.
Residents are already enjoying the benefits of RENEW’s regeneration programme – the recently opened community facility at The Square is proving hugely popular as a meeting place for groups and individuals alike.
Phase 1 of the ARF, which runs from 2008-2011, will provide new housing at the heart of the estate. The Phase 1 area includes Lea Place, Meadow Place, Maple Place and part of South Walk. Properties in this area are being acquired by RENEW on a voluntary basis to start to create a site for new development. The area was chosen to help create stronger links through from Woodville Road to Brookwood Drive and the newly built facilities on Pinewood Crescent.
Other work so far includes a programme of ‘alleygating’ to provide private, community spaces and knocking down the disused Thorley pub. Building work has begun on the first homes for sale in the area and Great Places will refurbish and upgrade a total of 20 three-bedroom family homes on Woodville Road over the next two years.
Planning permission has also been granted for a further 46 new homes on Lyme Road. Homes will be available for shared ownership at affordable prices.
A new community facility
A pair of ordinary semi-detached houses has been transformed into a fantastic new community resource centre. With funding from RENEW, Great Places worked with a committed group of local people to create the facility at The Square in the heart of the Meir neighbourhood. The centre will be used for events such as Coffee mornings, film shows, arts and craft sessions, adult learning courses, health advice and employment skills training could all soon be taking place.
Great Places and RENEW have also jointly funded a new community link officer to support local people for the next two years.
The ‘alleygating’ programme
Great Places Housing Group is in the process of completing a programme of alleyway closures and surface improvements across the area as part of an environmental improvements programme funded by RENEW North Staffordshire.
Each scheme will give private access to the residents that surround each alley and provide them with security, an improved environment and, a safe communal space for neighbours to access.
Initial consultation carried out by Great Places with residents throughout the RENEW area in Meir highlighted a preference for a programme of alleyway closures. Further consultation followed, with individual schemes to establish the desire for each closure and, on the basis of overwhelming support, each scheme has gone ahead.
Once completed, the alleyways will become the responsibility of those that use them and Great Places hope to help make them all a success.
The Lyme Road housing scheme
Planning permission has been granted for an affordable housing scheme at the rear of Lyme Road. The proposal is for 46 new homes, including 23 bungalows and a further 23 family homes, which includes a mix of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom houses and a small number of apartments.
The aim of the development is to provide a mix of housing that caters for a range of different needs. The scheme has been designed to integrate well with the existing properties and maintain the privacy of existing residents, as well as providing an interesting and distinctive mix of architecture that will complement the character of existing properties.
As part of the proposal, environmental improvements to the area around South Walk and Lyme Road will be considered subject to consultation with residents, but options could include a small ‘homezone’ area, which will help to slow traffic down and also provide a more useable shared space for both pedestrians and vehicles alike.
The scheme will be delivered by Great Places Housing Group and will include a range of homes for rent and shared ownership. The bungalows will be conveniently located close to Staffordshire Housing’s Rowan Village Extra Care scheme, which will give residents easy access to leisure, health and recreational services provided within the scheme. By offering this type of accommodation to older residents, it will help reduce ‘under occupation’ of local authority homes in the area, freeing up larger homes for local families.
The development is expected to take approximately 18-20 months to complete. Great Places will work with Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s housing options team to allocate the properties.
The Woodville Road ‘gateway’ refurbishment project
This scheme has long been seen as the key opportunity to give the estate a new entry point and create a high quality through route to Brookwood Drive and beyond to Crescent Primary School and the Children’s Centre.
The project is well underway, starting with the refurbishment of four properties at 1, 3 and 5 Woodville Road and 24 North Walk. The houses have benefitted from a substantial refurbishment, inside and out, and will be used to assist those affected by clearance and for shared ownership.
This primary route will be the main gateway into The Square and the base of Woodville Road and into the proposed new housing development at Lyme Road – and it is planned that all properties on Woodville Road will benefit from additional environmental improvements.
One of the first four properties has been opened as a ‘showhome’ for residents and potential buyers. As a result, all four were sold by the first weekend the showhome was open.
Rowan Village Extra Care Facility
Rowan Village is a development of 75 homes that offer ‘extra care’ facilities. Fifty of the homes are rented and 25 were offered for sale. It includes restaurant, gym, therapies and a range of other activities to benefit healthy older residents in the Meir community.
The extra care facility offers independent living for the over 55s - appropriate care allows residents to remain in their new home, but receive varying levels of care provision on site, 24 hours a day.
Community Development Officer
This post is co-funded by RENEW North Staffordshire and Great Places, to help improve the neighbourhoods of Meir and Cobridge. The officer will run two community centre facilities and help ensure the facilities are sustainable by empowering residents.
The officer will also work with the areas’ project team and other agencies to help with innovative and creative regeneration proposals and work closely with local residents and agencies involved in community development and youth work in the area.
Keeping an eye on the future
Thanks to real partnership working, the very latest digital technology is helping keep an eye on the streets of Meir. RENEW North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, camera manufacturers TYCO and Meir residents and councillors have been involved in a trial project that links mobile CCTV cameras sited on the estate to a control centre.
Brian Jones, Chair of the Wood Farm Residents’ Association, helped secure funding from the local councillors Ward Budget and support from RENEW, for the project. Digital technology means the prototype cameras need no hard wiring and are fully portable, allowing them to be moved easily and located at different sites.
So far, feedback on the project has been positive, with reported incidences of anti social behaviour dropping in the areas where the cameras are situated.
