News

Broadland Housing celebrates the start of an exciting new era today [22 June 2018], after an official ground-breaking ceremony at its new Carrow Quay development in Norwich.

The ambitious city-centre scheme will provide 323 homes – a mix of affordable rent, shared ownership and open market apartments, all with 1 or 2 bedrooms.

Gail Harris, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Norwich City Council, Clive Lewis MP, and James Carter of RG Carter (pictured above, with Broadland’s Chief Executive Michael Newey) were among Broadland’s guests celebrating the start of construction of the first 60 affordable rent flats.

Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director, said:

“Carrow Quay is a really strategic site for Broadland. Affordable, high-quality accommodation is in short supply in the city centre, so this mixed tenure housing scheme is really needed. It’s taken us 9 years to get to this point but we’ve got a passion to get this site built”

Chris Stammers, Architectural Director at Ingleton Wood’s Norwich office, commented “we are delighted to work with Broadland Housing Group to deliver this much needed affordable housing in Norwich city centre.  This modern, high-density development is the product of several years of effort all round and will provide 323 one and two bedroom homes, adding to the growing Riverside community.  We’re excited to see the initial phases under construction”

Construction will be in four phases:

• Phase 1 – 60 affordable rent flats, which are being built in conjunction with Norwich City Council. These are being funded from the proceeds of Right to Buy sales from council tenants.
• Phase 2 – 89 flats, of which 55 will be open market (to be built by the Broadland St Benedict arm of the housing association) and the remaining 34 for intermediate rent.
• Phase 3 – 73 flats for affordable rent
• Phase 4 – 101 flats, a mix of affordable rent, open market and discounted market sale.

Carrow Quay is due for completion in spring 2020.

Councillor Gail Harris, deputy leader of Norwich City Council and cabinet member for social housing, said:

“This marks an important phase in the development as work on the first 60 affordable apartments gets underway.  

“I’m especially proud that the city council has played an important part in helping this housing development move forward with a grant from our Right to Buy receipts.

“I very much look forward to seeing the development complete and with everyone moved into their new properties.”

Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South (pictured below, exploring a CGI view of the finished site, said:

“I’m a passionate supporter of social housing and this new development is great news for the people of Norwich. These new affordable rent flats will not only provide much-needed homes, but also stability in people’s lives.”

Grant Keys, Regional Director at R G Carter said:

“We look forward to working in partnership with Broadland Housing to deliver high-quality housing that will serve the local community for many years to come. This development will create skilled jobs and training opportunities and we look forward to delivering a successful project.”

Broadland has overcome significant hurdles to reach this milestone. The Carrow Quay site was bought from Norwich City Football Club as two separate landholdings. Complex planning negotiations with Norwich City Council have continued over a number of years.

Broadland has also been working with the Broads Authority, to protect the natural habitats on the riverbank and ensure the future sustainability of the site. 

Finally there was the possibility of an unexploded bomb buried on the site. Work was halted in early June while an unmanned bomb-detecting unit scanned the riverside. Andrew explained:

“Apparently several Second World War bombs fell in this area but were not accounted for, so we needed to check that everything was safe for work to continue.”

Carrow Quay is close to Broadland’s existing Brennan Bank property on Geoffrey Watling Way. Broadland is working in partnership with architects Ingleton Wood, Consulting Engineers Rossi Long, and builders R G Carter.

Andrew Savage concluded:

“It’s great that we’re here on site now at last. We’ve got a long way to go, but we have a cracking team – the contractors and site managers are superb.”

 

Family, friends and Broadland colleagues recently gathered to remember 2 longstanding tenant Board members. Special tree-planting ceremonies were held for Richard Hawthorn at Woodcote and for Mavis Wesley at The Cedars.

Friend and Woodcote resident Richard Headicar (pictured above) said of his friend Richard Hawthorn:

“Richard represented tenants on the board, he spoke up for them. He believed there was always a best way forward and would seek reconciliation to solve problems. It took effort to get to know Richard, but he was a worthwhile friend to make and was a constant delight. There was nothing a glass of wine couldn’t solve. He was a charming and loyal friend and sought the very best in human beings.”

Molly Robb (centre, above), who served with Mavis as a tenant Board member and later with her on the tenants’ forum said:

“Mavis had a great career as a jazz singer and performed at Ronnie Scott’s club. She also organised a day of jazz every year on the river. Even when she was older and became more disabled, she travelled to London to a committee of her musical contemporaries. Mavis was proud to represent Broadland tenants. She was a lovely lady and a good friend.” 

 

Broadland has pledged to Make a Stand against domestic abuse in a new housing association campaign.

Domestic abuse is one of the biggest issues we face in society today and 2 women are killed every week in the UK by their partner or ex-partner.

Make a Stand is a new partnership between the Chartered Institute of Housing, the Domestic Abusing Housing Alliance (DAHA) and Women’s Aid that will make a huge difference for people experiencing domestic abuse across the UK.

Housing providers are in a unique position to identify and respond to domestic abuse in their communities. Through publicity and campaigns they can raise awareness of the issue to ensure communities show zero tolerance to perpetrators of domestic abuse and support and help the people that need it.

We’ll be sharing more details of our pledge commitments shortly. Watch this space.

 

 

Volunteers from Broadland, Aecom and Smiths of Honingham recently spent a day planting out the new communal garden at York Place, Dereham.

The garden was created along with 6 new flats and 2 bungalows for over-55s when the scheme was recently extended.

Last year residents helped to design the garden, requesting waist-high vegetable trugs for easy access, plenty of shade and places to sit, and wildlife-friendly flowers.

The volunteers swung into action and the results got a positive response all round:

“People are so pleased to have a nice outdoor space where they can sit and chat!”

“It was really rewarding to see how much the residents appreciated their new gardens”