Council spends over £1m in bid to promote pride among tenants

Members of Kirklees Council’s Cabinet yesterday approved a £1.7m programme of improvement work for neighbourhoods across the district.

Councillors agreed to the plans to support a “greater pride of place for tenants and residents”, using money from the Housing Revenue Account reserves, said a council spokesman.

Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing and the Kirklees Federation of Tenants and Residents’ Association (KFTRA) have agreed business cases for the improvement programme aimed at area deemed to be in greatest need.

Phase one concentrated on work in Dalton and Golcar, both in Huddersfield, which saw spending of more than £1m.

Those commitments left £707,000 for the Huddersfield north area and £1m for Huddersfield south housing neighbourhoods, with priorities being Hillhouse, Lower Primrose Hill, Lowerhouses and Lockwood.

Cabinet member Coun Peter McBride said: “There are many benefits to doing this work, including a feeling of increased security and safety for residents, a reduction in crime and the fear of crime, more visually appealing buildings, a reduction in turnover on properties on some of our estates, and improved satisfaction.

“As part of the tendering exercise and to improve value for money, we will also offer training and employment opportunities for residents and we will work with voluntary and community sector organisations where we can.

“The proposals have been developed through local knowledge on the estates and the majority of tenants are in favour.”

A report on the plans says a total of £5.5m has been allocated to fund the improvements over three years from 2010-11.

The resources are being split equally across the four areas of public sector housing in Kirklees.

Works at Hillhouse, Huddersfield, are estimated to cost £149,000 and involve changes to what the council calls the “awkward and unappealing” layout of the estate which has an “overall appearance of being tired and run down”.

Improvements will focus on the poorly designed bin stores, outhouses, drying areas and general landscaping to the estate. Improved porch lighting and fencing will help deter criminal activity.

At Lower Primrose Hill, an area unpopular with tenants, there are plans for landscape improvements, improved parking and the provision of bin stores and canopies. Works are estimated at £220,000.

The Hallcross estate, Lowerhouses has similar issues to Primrose Hill in that it is not popular with new tenants. Improved fences and painting of the Tudor-style facades are among the ideas being put forward.

Work costing £236,000 proposed for the Fannymoor estate, Lowerhouses, would include the painting of rendered properties and the addition of canopies.

The Walpole estate at Lockwood could see upgraded walls and metal fencing as well as landscaping.

Modest improvements costing £44,000 are planned for Swan Court/Devonshire Street/Swan Lane at Lockwood, the report says.

Security measures such as lighting, paving and landscaping would improve the lives of tenants.

The report says that for each scheme a small project team will be established and further consultation will be carried out to see what tenants would prefer in terms of fencing and garden designs.

Wider issues will also be looked into. This could involve priorities around worklessness, health, children and young people – and not just environmental issues.

The report concludes: “These projects are aimed at reducing the inequality between these council priority areas and less deprived areas.”

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