Shropshire Star

Estate for elderly to replace 'eyesore' Ludlow maisonettes

A gated estate of homes for the elderly is to be built in Ludlow, replacing "eyesore" maisonettes.

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Shropshire Housing Group has submitted plans for 26 homes for the frail and elderly, to be built at the junction of Sandpits Road and Whitbread Road in Ludlow.

The application to Shropshire Council answers the question of what will happen at the site of the ageing 1960s maisonettes there, which were emptied of tenants by South Shropshire Housing Association, part of Shropshire Housing Group, earlier this year.

In February, those living in the social housing homes were told they would be relocated as the housing association announced that it intended to pull down the site. Now the housing group's vision for the site has been revealed. Plans will go on display at the Elim Hall in Smithfield Car Park, Lower Galdeford, from 5.30pm next Thursday.

A planning statement by K4 architects, on behalf of Shropshire Housing Group, says: "Presently there is an existing development on the site in the form of a three storey terrace, which has twelve flats on the ground floor with twelve maisonettes on the upper floors.

"It would appear to have been built during the 1960s and suffers from the usual faults of housing of this time - poor

levels of insulation resulting in high heating bills, poor sound insulation, single glazing and so on.

"Fifty years or so on from its construction it is now showing its age and needs replacing.

"At the time of writing it is only 20 percent occupied and consequently maintenance of these properties has ceased.

"This can be seen by the lack of attention furnished on the front and rear gardens, most of which are becoming overgrown."

It says the planned new estate, called Beech Gardens, and will include four semi-detached bungalows and a mixture

of one and two bedroom apartments, with car parking and a central grassed area for occasional events.

It is being modelled on a similar award-winning housing development in Evington, Leicester, known as Pilgrim Gardens.

The planning statement adds: "As part of this project, the client is taking the opportunity to forge a physical link between this new development and the adjacent, existing Whitefriar's scheme. South Shropshire Housing Association is purchasing a small parcel of land at the rear of number 31 Sandpits Road to facilitate this connection."

Tracey Huffer, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow East, previously said the maisonettes had deteriorated to become an eyesore over the years and were no longer suitable for families, whereas a complex for older people would help redress a much needed shortage of social housing for the town's ageing population.

Work to make the derelict maisonettes safe and secure was recently carried out by contractors Total Response Ltd.

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