Building a sustainable community

Jun 12 2007 By The Journal

Tees Valley Housing Group is working on major developments right across the region. In each of the Tees Valley's five boroughs - Stockton, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland, Darlington and Middlesbrough - the drive is on to create a better quality of life for many.

The Middlesbrough-based group, which is one of the country's leading independent registered social landlords, is playing a major part in Redcar's Courts development regeneration scheme.

The project will include new houses, shops, a community centre, pub and library.

TVHG is currently involved in phase three of the scheme and is building 34 new homes to be rented by people from Coast and Country Housing's waiting list who are referred to TVHG.

Among those homes will be two two-bedroom bungalows and four three-bedroom houses for people with disabilities.

A further 24 two-bedroom bungalows will also be built, along with four other general needs houses.

Work will start in October.

Opening this month is Pennyman House, TVHG's new extra care facility in North Ormesby.

At the same time work is underway at a similar development in Eston.

These facilities will provide a balance between the level of assistance elderly people would receive in a nursing home and independent living.

While the units at Pennyman House have all been let, there will be a total of 40 available at the new Eston facility, once it opens at the end of 2008. Of those, half will be for rent, with the remaining 20 for sale.

But sustainable communities are about more than just houses.

And TVHG and the Tees Valley Chinese Community Centre have worked together to open Middlesbrough's Harmony House - the area's first community centre which will cater for the needs of more than 1,000 Chinese families. The £888,000 centre has a hall that holds 250 people, meeting and training rooms, a library and catering facilities.

The site, at St John's Gate, was officially opened by Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon.

It follows the development of Tai Hua Court, which provided 20 homes for Chinese elders.

Alison Thain, chief executive of TVHG, said: "The opening of Harmony House is a first for the Tees Valley and is a real indication this is more than just homes, it is a new community."

TVHG is also working on major developments which will provide affordable housing and revitalise two areas of Stockton.

The first, in Parkfield, will dramatically change the face of the area, with the demolition of run-down terraced properties to be replaced by hundreds of new family homes.

The second, at Darlington Back Lane, is a partnership project which sees TVHG offering people a chance to get on the property ladder without the cost of a full mortgage.

And a major housing scheme in Stockton has also been shortlisted for cash backing from the Housing Corporation.

Seventeen schemes in the North are seeking funding from the Housing Corporation's Northern Challenge.

TVHG, working with designer and developer Urban Splash, hopes cash will help its proposals to build eyecatching homes for rent and sale at North Shore, Stockton.

The development is aimed at halting the exodus of young talent and graduates.

Meanwhile, Darlington was the site of the first of three units TVHG set up to help tackle high teenage pregnancy rates in the region.

Grace Court opened in 2004, with six apartments and nine houses on the site of the former Gladstone Hall nursing home, on Gladstone Street.

The development of Grace Court was followed by schemes in Hartlepool and Sunderland and all three have achieved national recognition.