Seedley South neighbourhood renewal

The Seedley South neighbourhood is a major investment priority for the Seedley and langworthy Partnership, in need of a comprehensive package of interventions.

Pictured is footprint of the area

Earlier consultation on a proposed neighbourhood strategy (including a package of refurbishment, remodelling, extended demolition to create more opportunity for new development and environmental improvements) was not received well by the community;

In response the Board acknowledged the need for greater community involvement with the development of strategy options. A resident working group (including Board members and community representatives) was set up and has appointed an Independent Community Advisor, (TPAS), Tenant Participatory Advisory Service to work with the community to identify and explore options for the best way forward.

An event entitled Moving Forward Day was held in which residents were invited to come along and give their views and TPAS also carried out extensive home visits and telephone interviews.

Following this work, three design options were developed by Triangle Architects. Residents were then invited to a consultation event to view the three options. Attendees were asked to complete questionnaires stating which were their preferred options and to capture any other feedback on the designs. TPAS collated the evidence and met with other stakeholders to produce their final report on the consultation process. A newsletter was produced for residents, informing them of the outcome and what the next steps will be. This is expected to form the basis for the Neighbourhood Strategy for Seedley South.

The consultation process delivered by TPAS (Tenant Participation Advisory Service) and the Residents Working Group has proved extremely useful in gathering the views of residents on the neighbourhood and what they would like to see happen to improve the area. The process has allowed residents to consider plans for the future regeneration of the area.

The initial design proposals consulted on from January 2006 had recommended extensive demolition of 122 properties to create new development opportunities. These proposals were met with a mixed response from the community and the Seedley & Langworthy Partnership Board agreed to review the proposals with further community consultation through an Independent Community Advisor (TPAS).

TPAS have now completed their consultation work and the evidence and evaluation from the consultation has been carefully considered by the City Council and the Seedley & Langworthy Partnership Board. The community expressed a desire to see a combination of design Options A & C which maximised the retention of existing houses. There was support amongst the community for this option but the council and the Board feel this proposal would severely limit the chances of attracting funding support from the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder. It is also felt that private developer interest would be limited and the option would only provide limited opportunity to develop new houses and provide transformational change to the neighbourhood.

The council and the Board now wish to put forward a revised set of proposals for the neighbourhood which is felt are still responsive to the aspirations of the community and will secure the future of the area through providing the opportunity for creating a greater choice and mix of housing. At the same time we will seek to gain funding to offer improvements to a much greater number of existing houses than had been considered through the earlier proposals.

The council is therefore recommending new proposals to demolish a much lower number of properties and retaining and investing in a lot more of the existing homes. This is in direct response to the community’s desire to see more of the existing occupied properties retained and improved. The Seedley South Update outlines what the community said the council's response.