Residents celebrate as Christian Fields becomes a place to be proud of » Housing » 24dash.com

On Friday 25 July residents of Christian Fields in Gravesend, Kent celebrated completion of the successful first phase of homes with a good old fashioned knees up. They held the traditional street party in the glorious sunshine and a great time was had by all!

Sponsored by Moat and Countryside Properties PLC, the event provided all kinds of entertainment for attendees including live rock and roll music, arts and crafts and the traditional egg and spoon race for young residents. Party food was provided by residents and Moat provided a popcorn machine to give the festivities a touch of the carnival.

Residents who have lived in the area for years mingled with those who have recently joined the neighbourhood and celebrated the renewed and revived community spirit at Christian Fields. In 2002, Gravesham Borough Council identified Christian Fields as an area in need of regeneration. Moat was appointed as the affordable partner on the £75 million project and in association with developer Countryside Properties PLC and English Partnerships, embarked on the vital regeneration of Christian Fields.

Melanie Cox, a local resident at Christian Fields, says: We are all so happy with our new homes and with how Christian Fields is starting to look. Everyone enjoyed the party and celebrated the exciting changes in our neighbourhood.

Caroline Field, Moats sustainability manager, says: The party was a huge success. It is great to see everyone working together to make Christian Fields a place to be proud of.

ENDS

About Christian Fields
Christian Fields is a £75m mixed tenure development, comprising 427 new homes in Gravesend, Kent. Residents at Christian Fields have been involved in the designs of the new homes with local exhibitions and representation on planning groups. The new homes are reflecting resident preferences for a traditional style of family home. Work began in March 2006. National regeneration agency, English Partnerships has contributed £9.95m towards the delivery of the project.

About Moat
Moat is a housing association that has provided affordable homes for people in the south east for over 40 years. With particular strengths in affordable home ownership and key worker housing, Moat also provides general needs homes for affordable rent, supported accommodation and tenancy support services.

Moat is one of the Housing Corporations development partners and is also the governments appointed HomeBuy Agent in Essex, Kent and Sussex. Moat employs 450 people and manages over 18,000 homes for rent and shared ownership.

Moats south region owns and manages over 7,700 homes across 21 local authority areas in Kent and Sussex.

Moat is an active partner in the Stanhope and Christian Fields regeneration projects and is involved in providing affordable homes at Brighton, Crawley, the Medway towns and Thames Gateway.

Moat is a leading housing association offering excellent customer service and building high quality affordable homes within thriving communities.

www.moat.co.uk

Building Communities

About Countryside Properties PLC

Countryside Properties PLC is a leader in property development, the creation of sustainable communities and urban regeneration. Our vision is to create places for people where they can enjoy a good quality of life.

The Group has more than 20 years experience of providing new and refurbished affordable housing. A broad range of mixed-tenure estate regeneration schemes are undertaken with local authorities and housing associations, to bring new life to run-down urban areas. We have unrivalled expertise in estate regeneration and as a result the Group is able to bring its partners an unparalleled range of skills and experience. We are a key partner in the London Wide Initiative with English Partnerships and the Communities and Local Governments Design for Manufacture competition.

The Company, which was incorporated in 1958, is owned jointly by the Cherry family and Bank of Scotland which is providing the Group with significant funding. Countryside Properties has an annual turnover in excess of £500m, employs some 800 people and 93% of our residential development is on brownfield and recycled urban land.

For further information visit www.countryside-properties.com and www.countryside-properties-corporate.com

About English Partnerships

English Partnerships is the national regeneration agency helping the Government to support high quality sustainable growth in England by creating well-served mixed communities where people enjoy living and working.

In collaboration with the Housing Corporation, the Academy for Sustainable Communities and Communities and Local Government we are establishing the new Homes and Communities Agency that will begin operating in 2009.