NEW LOUDOUN SQUARE – GO TIME!

Regeneration to start in June 2010

Finally, the wait is over… work on building the New Loudoun Square will start this month. For almost four years CCHA and its partners Cardiff Council and the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board have been working to develop this complex scheme, to secure the funding to start building it and so regenerate this oft overlooked corner of Cardiff.

During May we successfully concluded negotiations with the Loudoun retailers, the last piece in this complicated jigsaw. The shopkeepers will be a vital part of the new scheme; several of them have been at Loudoun right from the start, almost 40 years ago. We’re delighted to announce that all the retailers will be staying and will be open-for-business in New Loudoun and we thank them for their time and commitment to New Loudoun.

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
• a high quality new health centre
• a multi-purpose new community centre
• major environmental improvements making Loudoun Square a great place to live, shop and visit.

Change is long over due. 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.

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.

Praise for the Partners

Funding for the £16m scheme will be provided in no small part by the Welsh Assembly Government. They have made £10m available for the cost of the health centre and part of the cost of the new homes. 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, the community facilities the new shops and the environmental improvements.

The Assembly’s support of the scheme has been crucial. On a visit to the scheme the Health Minister, Mrs Edwina Hart OBE, praised the partners, and said “Loudoun Square will be a flagship for local, cross-sector working and community-based health care delivery”.

Loudoun – all the latest news

For CCHA, leading the regeneration project is a thrilling experience and we’re proud to be closely associated with the new scheme. Regeneration is an important part of our work – this is the second scheme of this type that we have now led successfully in partnership with Cardiff Council. Regeneration is a complicated business and we’re delighted to be leading the way on schemes of this type with the Council. Together we’re reviving some of Cardiff’s oldest communities.

To keep you up to date with New Loudoun we’ll shortly be launching a website dedicated to the scheme. Loudoun is about much more than just the build; it’s about the community benefits it will bring to the area and the job opportunities the construction process will provide and much more. You’ll find information on all-things-Loudoun on the new website. Watch this space for details.

CROWDS FLOCK TO TIGER BAY FUN-DAY

Working with the community has been and will remain a vital part of the New Loudoun project. On the 15th May 2010 the local community, CCHA and Leadbitter, the contractor that will build New Loudoun, organised an awareness raising and fun day to keep local people informed about the new scheme and to bring the community together.

Quite simply: it was the most successful community event in which we’ve been involved. Well over a thousand people representing the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of the area came along – it was a fantastic day.

We’d like to thank everyone who attended and all those who helped plan the event and took part in its organisation on the day. We’re also very grateful to the community organisations who took the trouble to write to CCHA praising the event and our team. Thank you – but it couldn’t have been done without the community’s hard work and commitment.