What's Happening In Your Area?
Sefton - Bedford Queens
Why has the area been chosen for development?
The Queens Road area has been recognised as one of south
Sefton's most deprived neighbourhoods. The area bounded by
Kings Road, Balliol Road, Stanley Road and Bedford Road suffers
from the most severe levels of decline.
The area has become unpopular and has led to fewer people wishing to live or invest there. This has led to an increased number of empty or poor quality properties and has contributed to the overall decline of the area. It is for those reasons that New Heartlands is using its resources along with a substantial amount of private sector investment to undertake an exciting program of redevelopment.
What is happening?
A masterplan for the area was produced in 2003 outlining proposals to:
Provide new and refurbished housing to meet the housing needs of the existing community and to attract new residents to the area.- Improve the existing environment.
- Improve public areas and provide new pedestrian crossings across Balliol Road, to the town centre and the train station.
- Re-organise the shops on Stanley Road to reduce the number of empty shops and to improve this important entrance to the area.
- Provide a high-quality frontage to Balliol Road.
- Improve the quality and access to green space.
- Encourage people to walk and create "Homezones" where cars are discouraged.
New and refurbished housing
97 new homes have been built on Waterworks Street, Trinity Road and Regency Park, and 234 households have been successfully rehoused.A new scheme at Wadham Park is complete, providing 27 affordable homes. 22 homes are available for rent, with five 2 and 3 bedroom houses available to purchase on a shared ownership basis. Work will begin at the end of 2009 on the Town Hall Garage site, which will result in 24 new homes. 450 properties have been demolished. The provision of new homes for rent, sale and shared ownership, together with the refurbishment of housing with a long-term future will not only ensure that new people are attracted to the area, helping to maintain communities well into the future.
Neighbourhood management
Living through change - Improvements have been made within the Bedford Queens area through a programme of Living through Change projects, which is funded by Housing Market Renewal. This is mainly delivered by the neighbourhood RSL and aims to support people living in the area by making it as pleasant as possible whilst the considerable redevelopment work is taking place.
The Living through Change projects are aimed at supporting community engagement, tackling crime and anti social behaviour, improving the environment and youth engagement.
Activities are developed in partnership with the Residents' Advisory Panel and Youth Forum.
Clean and green scheme - where dedicated workers improve the cleanliness and manage the physical appearance of the area by securing homes that have become vacant so that they do not suffer from vandalism and associated anti-social behaviour.
The redevelopment of Queens/Bedford is taking place in three phases, the first of which is nearing completion. Housing Market Renewal is a 10-15 year programme so it is expected that work will continue until approximately 2011.
I live in an area that will be cleared and redeveloped.
What will happen to me?
Two booklets have been produced to provide information for those
people who are living in the clearance area. You can download our
information booklets for more information.
My house is in an area that is not scheduled for
redevelopment. What will happen instead?
Not all of the area covered by the Housing Market Renewal programme
is in need of significant redevelopment. There are large sections
where the housing market is stable. However, these areas still
require substantial investment to give them a long-term future. For
example, Housing Market Renewal is funding work to carry out some
group repair schemes starting with Wadham Road. This will ensure
that the homes are in good condition, look better and will help
prolong the future life of these properties.
How will I be kept informed about what is
happening?
Housing Market Renewal distributes a newsletter to every home in
the area on a quarterly basis. The newsletter will keep you
informed about what is happening in your area and can also be found
in the library and local community centres. You can also make any
specific enquiries to Evolve.
What other improvements will I see?
Housing Market Renewal is about creating places where people want to live, where they have access to good transport, health facilities, good shops, a safe and clean environment and good community facilities.
The Housing Market Renewal team has been working with a range of services and organisations to make this happen and funding projects such as:
- Reassurance Policing - This is a dedicated police officer for the Bedford Queens area.
- Environmental Hit Squad - Environmental and security initiative to improve the physical appearance of the neighbourhood.
In addition there are plans to improve or redevelop the community centre in Queens Road as part of the masterplan proposals.
Whilst building new homes and improving existing ones is a part of the programme, there are other important aspects that do not relate to housing. The Bedford Queens area has community projects that provide a valuable resource for local people and members of the community are usually involved in these projects.
