whg nearing completion of Bentley redevelopment (01/06/10)

Walsall Housing Group (whg) is nearing completion of homes on the third of four sites it is redeveloping in Bentley.

whg is providing a total of 130 much-needed new houses, flats and bungalows in a £16million partnership with Coleshill-based contractor Frank Haslam Milan (FHM) and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the national housing and regeneration agency for England.

Work on two sites has already been completed and the third, which will provide 35 new homes in Western Avenue, is due to be completed by July. It will be called Lock Keeper’s Court and will comprise a mix of houses and apartments on land previously occupied by Fairview Court and Grange Court, two blocks of high-rise flats.

Construction is also ongoing on the fourth area of land being redeveloped, the site of the former Old Hall pub in Churchill Road. The 60 apartments for over 55s and five houses being built there are on course to be completed later this year.

Alan Watts, whg’s Regeneration Manager, said: “The redevelopment of Bentley is at an exciting stage as the community can now really see it coming together. The face of Bentley is really changing as we take the area into the future and the feedback we have received has been extremely positive as it is breathing a breath of fresh air into the area.”

In January, work was completed on the second of the four sites with the completion of 12 new apartments and six family homes on the former clinic site at the corner of Churchill Road and Princess Anne Road.

Work has already previously been completed in nearby Appleyard Close, which was previously a disused parking area, where eight bungalows and four apartments for the over 55s have been built.

Each home is being built to the Government’s new eco standard for homes, meaning lower running costs for customers. The well-insulated properties include solar panels on the roof, providing naturally heated water, will help keep customers’ energy bills low and reduce their carbon footprint.

Photo shows new homes take shape in Western Avenue, Bentley, Walsall.