NEW LOUDOUN

FUNDING CONFIRMED… WE’RE ALMOST THERE

Since the last New Loudoun Square update (December 2009) we’ve continued to make major progress with this exciting new £16m development.  Crucially, we’re now able to confirm that the financial package has been put in place and we remain on-course for a start on site early this year.

During January we have received formal confirmation that the funding for the health centre and the 61 new affordable homes on the site has been approved by the Welsh Assembly Government and the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. Altogether the Assembly will be providing almost £10m to regenerate this oft-overlooked corner of Butetown. CCHA and Cardiff Council have also been able to put the necessary resources in place to match this investment, which will be needed to pay for the new homes, community facility and some excellent new shops.

The new health centre will provide multiple health services all under one roof. The centre aims to meet the needs of the local population with the health services working in partnership with the wider community and public sector partners.

Mrs Hart said, “The new centre will replace the current Butetown Health Centre. Developing a modern, energy efficient and accessible centre that meets the need of local priority is a priority”.

Praising the scheme, Mrs Hart said “Loudoun Square will be a flagship for local, cross-sector working and community-based health care delivery”.

Scheme to Start Early in the New Year

The milestones that have been reached in the last few weeks mean that we remain on-track for a start early in 2010. The consultation and planning of the scheme has taken over three years and much hard work; so, we’re really excited about the prospect of actually getting onto site and starting work on this excellent scheme.

For the local community the wait has been much longer than three years and improvement at Loudoun is long overdue. The Butetown area of Cardiff is one of Wales’s most deprived wards and the Loudoun Square corner of the area is badly in need of regeneration.

The shops, health centre and flats were built in the 1960s and have remained largely untouched since then – the derelict flats above the shops have been vacant for many years and the former residential home for older persons has already been demolished.

Altogether New Loudoun will deliver:

• 13 superb new family homes
• 48 excellent quality flats – the houses and flats will be some of the most environmentally friendly homes in Cardiff
• 11 brand new shops for the retailers
• a high quality new health centre and,
• a multi-purpose new community centre
• major environmental improvements making Loudoun Square a great place to live, shop and visit.

Meanwhile, the community consultation goes on. The members of the public we have spoken to have been overwhelmingly in favour of the proposals for the scheme. However, we are aware that the new scheme is the subject of much local discussion, which we welcome, and that some members of the community are concerned about the scheme. We have done our best to allay concerns and are still working on issues raised.

We’re at Loudoun Square every Monday and Friday at the BB2B portakabin between 2 – 4pm. Please feel free to call in and speak to us. Or you can telephone us on: 029 2046 2142.

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New ‘Glossy’ Format Corporate Plan available now

Available in ‘word’ format’ for a few months, the final edition of our Corporate Plan for 2009 – 2012 is now available to download from our site. Please click here to view.

The Plan outlines our aims and priorities that we intend to achieve over the period of the plan and our current immediate priorities.

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Colchester Avenue Phase Two Commences

Ground Work has recently started on Phase Two at Colchester Avenue. This Phase will deliver rental properties of the following:

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Marland House Service Change

Cardiff Council have recently changed the way in which Marland House Housing Benefit Service operates. For further details please click here.

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Homeswapper - Free for any CCHA Tenant

CCHA has teamed up with Homeswapper who run a mutual home exchange website. The aim of this website is to put council and social landlord tenants who want to move to a different home in touch with each other.

How does it work?

• You post the details of your property you would like to offer
• Then you post details of where you would like to move to, size of home and rent you want to pay

The website then matches you to people who have the type of property you are looking for and want a property like the one you have.

There are 142,028 tenants currently using the website all over the UK so if you are looking for a move to somewhere outside Cardiff or even to a few streets away this website is an excellent way of acheiving this and means you have more control over your ability to move than you do sitting on a waiting list.

Because CCHA have signed up with Homeswapper it is free for any CCHA tenant to use the website. As part of the subscription process anyone logging on will have their details passed to CCHA so we can confirm you are a CCHA tenant. Once this has been confirmed you are provided with full access to the site so you can start getting in touch with possible matches for an exchange. CCHA will process any applications to use the website within one working day.

If you don’t have a computer at your home you can call CCHA on 029 20462142 and book an appointment to come and use a computer at the Meteor Street office. There will also be help on hand if you require assistance with signing up. Free internet access is also available in most local libraries.

Although the Homeswapper website will put you in touch with people you can exchange with, you still need to tell CCHA once you have found someone to exchange with. This is so we can ensure that:

• Your rent account is clear
• Your property is clean, tidy and in a good state of repair
• That the person who you are swapping with and will be moving into our property is a good tenant and that their landlord is happy to proceed with the exchange.

For further information on the Homeswapper service or CCHA’s exchange policy please visit www.homeswapper.co.uk or contact CCHA on 02920 462142.

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Tenant Participation

CCHA's Tenant Inspectors recently surveyed CCHA Tenants on how they feel about tenants being trained to inspect CCHA's Housing Services and what services they feel need to be inspected. For the results of this survey please click here.

DAG, CCHA's Disability Awareness Group are currently working on a project with TPAS Cymru to encourage more disabled tenants to get involved in the group and to represent tenant views where appropriate to the Association. For the results of a recent survey sent to tenants regarding this project please click here.