15 Jun 2010

For immediate release:

New development named by local children

Children from a local primary school have chosen the name for an exciting new housing development in Kirkdale.

With a working title of Easby Phase 1, the new build scheme is a brand new project in the City Centre North Zone of Liverpool's Housing Market Renewal area.

The homes - on the site of the now-cleared Notre Dame School - form part of a multi-million pound regeneration of the whole Easby area.

Construction on the site, by David Wilson Homes (North West) has now started. The first completions are expected to be later this year, with the whole project taking around 18 months.

The £6m development offers 50 modern, high-quality two and three bedroomed houses, with further phases potentially delivering 300 more in the following years.

As part of the regeneration process, David Wilson Homes (in collaboration with Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Housing Trust) has undertaken various community engagement projects, the latest of which has been with a local school, St John's Catholic Primary.

St John's is directly opposite the site on Fountains Road, and young people have been involved in a range of different events and projects. One was a contest to find a great name for what will be a great new development.

Two children, Joseph Dixon aged 10 and Phoebe McAllister, aged 8, came up with the name St John's Place - which has now been officially adopted as the name of the project. Three other children also had their designs of their 'dream home' chosen to be transformed into giant hoardings that will be placed around the site.

Graham Swann, Managing Director at David Wilson Homes, said: "This is a long term project that will change the face of the whole area - and we want local people, especially children, to feel involved and have a sense of ownership. They are the future generations who will live here, and we want them to feel proud of the project and the part they have played in it."

Councillor Joe Anderson, Leader of Liverpool City Council, added: "This is our second development in City Centre North. The first, Dorrington Gardens, was award winning and proved to be extremely popular, and we hope that St John's Place follows in its footsteps."

Eileen McBirnie, head teacher of St John's Catholic Primary, said: "It has been an amazing opportunity for our children to be involved at this early stage of such an exciting project. The children who entered the competition to name the development are very proud to see 'St. John's Place' on the map and the art competition winners are waiting in anticipation to see their wonderful drawings on the hoardings around the site."

For people interested in purchasing units, the sales office will be opening in July 2010, however, prior to this they can contact Cas Stewart (DWH Sales Negotiator) on 07711 425 365.

The photograph shows children from St John's School with some of their dream home designs.

Notes to Editors

• NewHeartlands is one of ten HMR pathfinders in the country. It is tasked with regenerating the inner Merseyside area by tackling low-demand and poor-quality housing markets, usually in some of the UK's most deprived areas. We work closely with Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral Councils and other partners including the Home and Communities Agency, private developers, RSLs and residents.

• The programme started in 2003 and is expected to run for 10-15 years. The homebuilding plans are only one aspect of the programme which also includes job creation, social regeneration and community building, tackling crime and anti-social behaviour and boosting prosperity.

For more information contact: Debbie Johnson

NewHeartlands

Tel: 07894 398800

debbiemjohnson@hotmail.com