Staffordshire housing scheme helps create nearly 100 jobs
A MAJOR new housing development in Staffordshire has helped to create almost 100 jobs in its construction phase.
Sapphire, a consortium comprising Your Housing Group, Eric Wright Group and Kajima Partnership, reached financial close on the £60m PFI extra care housing project last year.
The completed development will consist of 390 new apartments for over the 55s across its three sites in Chell, Blurton and Abbey Hulton.
The building work so far has seen a total of 487,000 concrete blocks and more than 500,000 bricks laid at the three sites, and of the new positions created seven are local apprentices.
Steven Haigh, Executive Director of Growth at Your Housing Group, said: “This is the biggest scheme of its kind to be developed in Stoke-on-Trent and will put the city on the map for extra care housing. From the outset we have been committed to creating more than just bricks and mortar by driving wider benefits to the local economy; creating jobs for local people and boosting local trade. It is great to see these figures for new job opportunities, particularly the apprenticeships that are being created for young people.”
Up to half of the people working on the site at Abbey Hulton and Blurton are within a 20-mile radius of the scheme, while a policy to source as much as possible from local suppliers has helped to boost the local economy.
Cllr Jack Brereton, cabinet member for regeneration, transport and heritage at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “It is great to see the physical build of the apartments come to life. It is important that we have these facilities in the city to support elderly people in the best way possible so that they don’t have to move out of their home – they can have a future with the best facilities possible around them.
“This accommodation is being created to meet a clear housing need, in parts of the city that need it the most. Key parts of our requirements for the three sites were that local companies be used as much as possible in the construction phase, and also that job opportunities be created locally. We’re pleased to see Sapphire really embrace this, and it is fantastic that apprenticeships are being created to give local young people the chance to learn new skills. The sites are transforming empty and redundant facilities in Chell and Blurton, and bringing a great new use to land in Abbey Hulton.”
To celebrate the anniversary of work starting on the scheme, the official names of the three sites have been announced. Each pays homage to the local area and its history.
The 175-unit development in Abbey Hulton is to be named Oak Priory in reference to the Hulton Abbey monastery which the town was named after.
The 75-unit development in Blurton will be called, Willow Barns, after a native Stoke-on-Trent tree, and the former farm and farmland that used to be on the site.
The 140-unit development in Chell will be called Maple West, after the trees that used to grow on the banks of the River Trent, and in tribute to the Westcliffe hospital that used to be on the site. Local residents wanted it to commemorate the hospital and keep something related to it in the title.
