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The Oval Re-development

Herefordshire Housing intends that the Oval area, including all of the three storey blocks on Kilvert Road, Broxash Drive, Belmont Road and Beattie Avenue will be regenerated.

The aim of the project is to work in partnership with residents and other stakeholders to develop deliverable proposals which would ultimately transform the neighbourhood, both physically and in terms of the life chances of the residents of the area.

A key objective of the project is to create a sustainable community within the Oval Regeneration Project area, establishing ways to improve the environment, and improve access to local amenities and services.

The Oval Re-development Steering Group was established in May 2009 to oversee and manage the whole process of the regeneration of The Oval area. The group works on behalf of the community to ensure that proper and effective consultation is carried out, oversees the results and plans out the next steps of the project.

The group has been meeting regularly to ensure that the process is fair and that the community and residents are at the heart of the project.

The Steering Group is made up of Oval area residents, Newton Farm Community Association, Local Councillors, officers of Herefordshire Housing, expert development consultants and officers from Herefordshire Council. Over 60% of the Steering Group are local residents.

If any local residents have any questions/queries regarding the re-development please contact the Neighbourhood Officer for the area, Mark Butler, on (01432) 346092 or mbutler@hhl.org.uk in the first instance who will be happy to help you with your queries.

Mark Butler
Neighbourhood Officer

(01432) 346092 or mbutler@hhl.org.uk

The Oval Re-development Area

We are on the move in The Oval

This is a brief guide for tenants of The Oval who will be affected by the redevelopment of this area.

When will I be moving?

Your Neighbourhood Officer, Mark Butler, will write to you when we have a provisional date for you to move out of your current home.  Wherever possible this will be six months in advance of such a move, but there may be occasions when this timescale is longer or shorter, as the works programme will remain subject to a degree of change throughout the planning and construction phases.

Mark Butler will make an appointment to come and talk to you about:

• Your housing need
• Where you wish to move to

This is your opportunity to discuss any issues or concerns you may have about moving.

Our aim is to try to ensure that most people only move once.  However, we are making a small provision of carpeted, curtained properties on site available for those small numbers of people we may have to provide temporary accommodation for.

What happens if I am overcrowded now?

Mark will talk to you about your family housing need which means that if under our Allocations policy you are eligible for a bigger property that’s what we will offer you.  Our policy states the following:

• 2 children of same sex with less than a 10 year age gap will receive a 2 bedroom property
• 2 children of same sex WITH a 10 year age gap will receive 3 bedroom property
• 2 children of different sex will receive a 3 bedroom property
• 3 or 4 children dependent on sex and age will receive a 3 or 4 bedroom property

If anyone living with you is over 18 years then they must have done so for at least a year prior to your discussion with Mark about moving.

Mark will talk to you about your housing need and if you only need a one bedroom property this is what we will offer you.  Our policy states that the following are entitled to a one bedroom property:

• Couples without children
• Single people

Mark will talk to you about your area of choice e.g. Hunderton, Tupsley etc. We are unable to consider offering you properties in specific streets.  You will receive one offer, which Mark will make in writing before talking to you about viewing the property.

No, we will directly match you to a property.  Mark will ask you to sign a Home Point application form for our records.

Yes, those tenants who have occupied their property as their principle home for more than one year from the date you move out of your current home are entitled to a home loss payment of £4,700 per household once you have moved to your new permanent accommodation.  If you owe Herefordshire Housing any money in rent, service charges, repairs or former debt this will be deducted from your payment. Mark will discuss your situation with you.

We will also help with the actual cost of moving.  We will organise removals and assist with some of the associated costs of moving for example:

• Disconnection and reconnection costs for telephone, cooker, washing machine etc.
• Postal transfers

If any local residents have any questions/queries regarding the re-development please contact the Neighbourhood Officer for the area, Mark Butler, on (01432) 346092 or mbutler@hhl.org.uk in the first instance who will be happy to help you with your queries.

Update

May 2013

• Since the public consultation in October 2012 the design team have been busy refining the design and layout for the redevelopment and it is expected that we will submit a planning application in the next few weeks.

• Site investigations have been on-going over the last few months, including the drilling of boreholes around the estate to check the ground conditions and a structural inspection of the Oval block.

• Due to service connections the block on Beattie Avenue has been redesigned.  Following feedback from the consultation balconies have also been proposed on both of the new blocks.

• HHL have been conducting on-going discussions with Herefordshire Council in order to bring all the various land ownerships together. The Council have now agreed the inclusion of both the vortex land and St Frances Church site.

• Work will commence shortly after planning permission is secured so we intend that work will begin on site late summer/early autumn 2013. 

A detailed decant schedule is being completed that will give you a clear indication of when you will be required to move from your property, but rest assured, you will be contacted personally by Mark Butler a number of months before this needs to happen.

Consultation Display from 16 May 2013

Please note that all layouts, designs and programmes are dependant on the planning process

Development and Planning Update

Site Layout

Decant Programme

New Build Programme

Beattie Court

Broxash Court

The Community Hub

House types for HHL

House types for sale

January 2013

ADVANCE NOTICE OF WORK

As part of the redevelopment of The Oval area site investigation works will be taking place in this area from the 21^st Jan 2013 and should last for a period of up to 2 weeks.

The work will involve the drilling of numerous bore holes in the area to investigate the ground conditions prior to any building work being carried out.

It may be necessary for health and safety reasons to close off and restrict access to some areas, both open space and some communal gardens, whilst the work is carried out. I apologise in advance for any disruption that this work may cause.

Please make sure that your children are aware of the works and that you explain to them that they must not enter any restricted areas.

Thank you for your co-operation in this matter

If you have any questions/queries regarding the re-development please contact the Neighbourhood Officer for the area, Mark Butler, on (01432) 346092 or mbutler@hhl.org.uk or visit the HHL office at Jubilee Court.

Poster

November 2012

Please click here to view the November 2012 Newsletter

On the 22nd October 2012 we held a public consultation at the Three Counties Hotel to show the draft layouts and plans for the redevelopment. Over 100 people attended and lots of useful feedback was given. The visitors took the opportunity to view the proposals and question the team about various aspects of the re-development.

The overall impression given was that the visitors were pleased with the ideas and the plans and they were very keen to let us have their responses, both positive and negative and all of these comments are now being fed back into the design of the scheme.

The comments included, a great improvement to the area, looking forward to having a garden of our own, happy to see the Oval shops remain, I like the idea of the Community Hub, it is much needed.

We asked specifically about the proposed Community Hub and the majority of people were very supportive of the idea and believe it will bring a lot of benefit to the community.

Below are the main points of concern from the consultation together with our responses;

• Children should be in houses not flats
  • Families with children under 14 yrs of age will be prioritised for the allocation of houses on the new development.
• Flats need balconies
  • This has been fed back to the design team who will consider the option and look at the feasibility.
• Why are there so many private properties being built?
  • Without the sale of private homes in partnership with a developer, the project would not be financially viable for HHL.
• Why will it take so long to complete?
  • The redevelopment is a complex project that requires HHL and Keepmoat to adopt a phased approach that reduces any disruption to residents and minimises the number of households moving more than once.
• Will there be enough properties for everyone who wishes to stay in the area?
  • The responses to the tenant survey in May 2012 indicate that every household with a preference to remain in the area will be given the opportunity to do so, but communication with individual households will continue throughout the development programme.

If you didn't have an opportunity to attend the consultation or you just wish to look again at the proposals then?either speak to your neighbourhood officer, Mark Butler, at the Jubilee Court office or follow the links below.

• The design of the redevelopment is a work in progress and we will let you know when revised plans are available, but we are aiming to submit a planning application by the end of 2012.

• Consultation with the community is on-going so please do not hesitate to contact your neighbourhood officer, Mark Butler, if you have any feedback, queries or concerns. We would also appreciate it if you could complete and return the Communication Survey in the latest newsletter

• Keepmoat are planning to hold a ?meet the builder? event in the spring where they will invite local contractors and suppliers to meet with them to see how they can get involved with the re-development to support local economy.

October 2012

On the 22 October 2012 we held a public consultation at the Three Counties Hotel to show the draft layouts and plans for the redevelopment. If you didn't have an opportunity to attend the consultation or you just wish to look again at the proposals then you will find the links to the display below. You will also find a feedback form that you are able to complete and forward on to us by email or by dropping into the Jubilee Court office.

Draft Layout Plan(pdf 3.3MB)

Draft Phasing Plan(pdf 1.1MB)

Draft Impression Street Elevations(pdf 3MB)

Draft Impression Beattie Avenue(pdf 1.4MB)

Draft Affordable house & flat Plans(pdf 1.9MB)

Draft Private Sale house plans(pdf 2.3MB)

Feedback Form(pdf 135kb)

September 2012

We invited three developers to submit proposals to partner with Herefordshire Housing to regenerate The Oval area and these submissions were assessed over the summer.

The assessment panel was made up of officers from HHL, a local resident member of the Steering Group and a representative from Newton Farm Community Association.

Based on written submission, interview and presentation stages the assessment panel recommended entering into discussions with Keepmoat Homes to develop the scheme in further detail. On 25th September 2012 the Board of HHL considered and agreed to this recommendation.

Herefordshire Housing and Keepmoat are intending to provide approximately 250 new properties: 50% will be let by HHL at affordable rents and 50% will be sold on the open market by Keepmoat.

HHL properties will include 1 and 2 bed flats and 2, 3 and 4 bed houses.

It is anticipated that The Oval shops and the flats above the shops will be refurbished to allow the shops to remain open throughout the entire project.

The HHL and Keepmoat properties will be inter-dispersed throughout the site and will be built to the same high standards.

The programme is expected to last for approximately six years but the phasing and decant schedules are in the early stages of development. However, detailed discussions will take place with all tenants well in advance of any move dates and HHL and Keepmoat will support you throughout the process.

Keepmoat are developing an Employment?and Skills strategy that will be specific for the area in order to maximise the opportunities created for local residents through the project.

July 2012

Earlier this year three contractors were invited to submit a proposal to partner with Herefordshire Housing in the re-development of the Oval area. These proposals were required to include not only the cost of the schemes but also proposals for layout, design and how they would add extra value and quality to their bid through the development of employment and training initiatives.

The contractors have now submitted their tenders to partner with Herefordshire Housing and Herefordshire Housing and members of the Steering Group will be assessing the detail of these offers over the summer, with the intention of confirming a preferred partner in September 2012.

A public event in September will start a four month period of detailed consultation where you will be able to view the initial re-development proposals, ask questions and make comments or suggestions.

Invitations and posters will provide details of the event closer to the time so please keep a look out for them.

News Letters

As the delivery phase of this project now begins to move forward we will update you on a regular basis with exciting news and developments!

Please click here to view the most recent newsletter with the next one due to be publicised in December to bring you up to date with most recent activities and progress.

News Archive

The Oval Newsletter (September 2012)

The Oval Newsletter (July 2012)

Oval Community Plan Newsletter (2009)

Anythings possible at the Big Event!

Calendar of Milestones and Events

Where you can find us
Head Office: Herefordshire Housing Ltd. Legion Way, Hereford, HR1 1LN. Tel. 0300 777 4321 Fax. 01432 384198	City Centre Office: One-Stop Shop 84-86 Widemarsh Street, Hereford, HR4 9HG. Tel. 01432 346070 Fax. 01432 346089	South Wye Office: Jubilee Court Community Facility Kilvert Road, Newton Farm, Hereford, HR2 7FE. Tel. 01432 346091 Fax. 01432 379260