Work soon on £90m new lease of life

WORK should start with the next two months on a £90m regeneration scheme which will change the face of a South Yorkshire community over the next two decades.

Barnsley Council, developers and other bodies have spent years looking for the best ways to improve the Dearne village of Thurnscoe and its Reema estate of houses.

Regeneration work to replace hundreds of houses was planned, but the scheme was affected when the recession hit and the scheme was delayed.

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However developer Keepmoat Homes has now been signed up to the scheme, which will go ahead in four phases with a scheduled completion date of 2028.

By the end of construction work, almost 900 new homes should have been built but there will be other important changes.

They will include a fresh link across a railway line which cuts through the area, a health centre and upgraded schools.

Work on the project is starting now because Housing Minister John Healey, also the Wentworth MP, has made available an extra 2.4m.

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When it is finished the housing will provide a mix of privately- owned, affordable homes and rented accommodation.

Where developers might previously have been expected to build the private properties first, demand is now higher for rented housing so that will go up first.

It will be managed by Berneslai Homes, the organisation which controls the town's council housing, because residents have said they will be happier with the local authority still in control. Residents have been part of long negotiations over the plans for the redevelopment, which will involve traditional-style housing.

It is acknowledged that some of the homes put up in the 1960s failed to meet the expectations of those who lived in them.

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A range of bodies are involved in the scheme, which has Government funding support through its Housing Market Renewal Programme.

Since that was launched eight years ago, 242m has been spent in South Yorkshire, with the aim of closing the gap between the most affluent and the more deprived suburbs in the county. Work involves improving the overall environment for residents, rather than just putting up new houses.

Mr Healey said: "It is hard to overstate how important this contract is.

"These residents have lived with these homes since the 1960s and the talk and planning for redevelopment for several years, but this says it is now going to happen."

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He praised the "determination" of all the organisations involved in ensuring the planning work continued even through the difficult economic times.

"It is not about just pulling down one set of houses, it is about building the new NHS centre, it is about building links across the railway line and designing the village in a way that residents have not known before.

"Long consultations have meant it has been done in a way which will meet the needs of residents. Designs from the 1960s and 1970s didn't meet people's needs.

"People said they wanted more traditional homes and that is what we are planning to build. They asked for a mixed community and that is what we are planning," he said.

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A wider benefit of the scheme is that it will create jobs in the building industry which should help the area to emerge from the recession.

It is hoped that the size of the scheme will help to create opportunities for apprenticeships.

Barnsley Council spokesman Andrew Osborn said a long term aim was to bring as many economic benefits as possible for the area around Thurnscoe.

Around 600 firms involved in construction from the surrounding area have been invited to attend a meeting today where the potential contracts will be explained.

The new houses have been designed with help from Government architects to ensure the best quality possible.