Work starts on North Staffordshire extra care village » Housing » 24dash.com

Work is now officially underway for the first ‘extra care’ village development in Newcastle-under-Lyme that will give new options for older people to continue living independently.

A partnership of Aspire Housing, North Staffordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT), Newcastle Borough Council, RENEW, Prima 200 North Staffordshire and national regeneration agency English Partnerships, formally signed a contract on 8th November. This marks the official start of the development.

The partnership announced ‘Mill Rise’ as the proposed name for the new development and ‘Milehouse Primary Care Centre’ for the name of the on-site health facilities. Aspire Housing has recently recruited Suzie King as the Project Manager to move the development forward.

Caroline Simpson, Director of Business Development, Aspire Housing, is delighted with the official launch of the development, saying: “We are all really excited about ‘Mill Rise’ as a vital link in the regeneration work that is taking place in the area.

She continued: “The new development will provide older people with modern care and support facilities and give them an opportunity to continue living independently. With access to high quality housing, the development will give people a better quality of life and access to the vital services they need.”

The new development is being funded by Aspire Housing, North Staffordshire PCT, Newcastle Borough Council, Prima 200, Staffordshire County Council and the Housing Corporation. It has also been supported by English Partnerships, who bought the land in 2004, and by RENEW North Staffordshire.

Based in a priority area in the RENEW North Staffordshire housing market renewal programme, ‘Mill Rise’ will host a state-of-the-art health centre, developed by North Staffordshire PCT and will act as a base for the three local GP practices in the Knutton and Cross Heath area.

Andrew Millward, North Staffordshire PCT Chairman, said: “We are thrilled that work has officially commenced on the ‘Mill Rise’ development and that we are a partner in this exciting venture.

He continued: “Residents will have health services on their doorstep and the centre will provide them with an on-site pharmacy. We are also committed to providing our NHS dental services from the centre in the future, addressing the health needs of the local community.”

In addition, ‘Mill Rise’ will also host physiotherapy, chiropody and podiatry services, alongside a number of other services, including a hairdresser, restaurant, hobby room and many others.

The development will be set in beautiful landscaped surroundings and will be built under the LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) scheme by Prima 200. It will be built to high design and environmental standards and will act as a catalyst to the wider regeneration of the Knutton and Cross Heath area.

Ann Pursey, Chief Executive of Prima 200 is excited to commence work on the project, she said: “This scheme is a wonderful example of partnership working and shows what can be achieved when agencies work together on a community project. The scheme will provide a focus for services for local people of all ages, from children to older people.”

Neale Clifton, Executive Director for Regeneration and Development at Newcastle Borough Council, welcomed the practical start of this development, saying: “I am delighted that local people can look forward with confidence now to the provision of both a wider range of health services and supported housing in their community in this joint scheme, that will be built to high design standards. The development will make a vital contribution to the emerging regeneration plans for this neighbourhood”.

David Charmbury, English Partnerships’ Regeneration Manager, said: “English Partnerships bought the land for this development to help kick start the wider regeneration of Knutton and Cross Heath area. With this agreement between partners we will now see high quality new homes and health facilities that will help make this an attractive and popular place to live.”

Rob Kilby, Investment Manager for the Housing Corporation, West Midlands, said: "The Housing Corporation is delighted to see that this major project is now about to start. The investment we are making into the extra care facility to will help accelerate the regeneration of the local community and help the next phases of housing come forward. The development is a key element of the master plan for Knutton and Cross Heath "

‘Mill Rise’ will host 60 apartments, with a mix of one and two-bedroom accommodation, along with the new health centre. People will have the opportunity to rent or part-buy property. The rest of the site will be developed, at a later stage, by Bellway (RENEW’s development partner in the area), providing 160 high quality homes.

The target completion date of ‘Mill Rise’ is early summer 2009.

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