The Battle of Tewkesbury continues

The Priors Park estate in Tewkesbury was an area in decline when Severn Vale Housing Society was established through a Large Scale Voluntary Transfer from the local council in 1998. Outdated homes, many of them blocks of flats, were built during the 1960's and 70's. These housed some residents who had reputations for vandalism, drug abuse and other petty crime and the area was perceived as a dumping ground for problem families.

As the estate housed a large proportion of Severn Vale Housing Society tenants, a holistic approach was needed to support the planned regeneration programme. Many of the residents are third generation on the estate and moves are in place to revive a community spirit that had been lacking for some time.

A Neighbourhood Network was the first step in this process and Severn Vale provided offices and IT support for the full time Community Worker and volunteer staff. A Planning For Real exercise followed soon after allowing residents to voice their major concerns about life on the Park. The Network has recently been superseded by the Priors Park Neighbourhood Project, which now occupies offices in the centre of the estate near the local shops. Two of the shops have been converted; one for use as a drop-in centre for residents with support from police, the Job Centre and other agencies and the other as a Learndirect(r) centre offering computer-based training to residents. The flat above the Learndirect(r) suite is being offered as a centre where local groups including the police, local authority, education and health groups can work together to rebuild the community.

The West-side of the estate had the majority of the outdated housing and a two-phase plan was initiated to regenerate this area with demolition of five blocks initially followed by refurbishment of the remaining blocks once the rebuild is completed. The funding application was made at a difficult time but eventually the Society succeeded in gaining a Housing Corporation £3.5million Social Housing grant to build a mixed community of housing. This large grant was the biggest allocation in the year in the South West region. The total project will cost in excess of £7.5million total and completion is anticipated in Spring 2006. The massive job of decanting tenants from their homes into temporary accommodation or new permanent homes was a huge logistical challenge carried out with the minimum of problems over the winter of 2003.

Work began in April 2004 with the demolition of five blocks of flats to make way for 74 new homes for rent and shared ownership. In the refurbished blocks new entrances will be created to allow better views and offer more security for the families by moving front doors away from the nearby road. Some of the tenancies for these flats will be on a probationary basis to attempt to minimise any possible Anti Social Behaviour from occurring and the success of this pilot scheme will be carefully monitored over the first twelve months.

It is hoped that the culmination of this project will result in an estate where a real sense of community exists and where residents are happy to live.

For further information about Severn Vale Housing Society contact the PR department, SVHS, Shannon Way, Ashchurch, Tewkesbury GL20 8ND. t: 01684 272727 or visit the website www.svhs.org.uk