Welcome to the first ‘Your Place – Whitebirk’ newsletter. We’ll be using this to keep you up-to-date on everything we’re doing on your estate.
You may hear us talk about ‘Placeshaping’ and that’s because this is more than investing in bricks and mortar. It’s about working with you to make your area a place where you and others want to live – there’s more about how we see this in this newsletter.
We’ll be sending you one of these newsletters a few times a year. Scan and sign up to receive the digital version by email.
Shaping a community
Whitebirk has been a strong community for many years. However, recently residents have been telling us that things have changed and they no longer see Whitebirk as having a strong future. That’s why Together Housing has chosen Whitebirk to be one of the estates where we are investing as part of our Placeshaping work. Over the next few years, we’ll be investing significantly in the estate with an aim to make it a place where people want to live not just right now, but in the future as well.
Since we announced our investment last year we’ve been talking to people in the community. We’ve heard about the frustration the ginnels can cause, the love for the park (but the worry it’s a hidden gem) and concerns about parking and space. We’ve looked at the properties that are on the estate and how we can make sure our investment really makes the difference you’ve told us you want.
In addition to the feedback from the community on the environmental issues, we have taken a look at our properties. Many of the houses we’ve looked at are affected by subsidence. This is in part due to the former Whitebirk Colliery and partly to do with an old mill pond under the estate. While these houses aren’t dangerous at the moment, they will become so long term and so we are proposing we demolish them. At the same time, we’ve identified some properties that affect our options in designing the space around the estate. It’s important that we can work together with as many options as possible so we are proposing to demolish a number of properties that will enable us to look at different designs to address the issues you’ve identified.
We know many people have lived in their homes a long time and that moving is never easy. However, we’re talking to affected residents individually about the support we can give them and what compensation they will be entitled to.
We’ve now contacted everyone whose house we have identified as one we are proposing to demolish. If you’ve not heard from us, your house is not affected. If, however, you have any questions about the process, you’re still welcome to ask.
Your contact - Kath Reeves
To make sure you can always get in touch with the right person we’ve asked Kath Reeves to be the contact for anything Placeshaping related.
Kath has been a Neighbourhood Officer working on Whitebirk for the last two years.
You can contact Kath with any questions about Placeshaping including:
• about the consultation or placeshaping in general
• about how your home is affected
• if you know your home is affected, questions around support available for moving
• about how you can share your ideas about placeshaping.
Kath is really keen to be available for residents of Whitebirk and has set up a weekly drop in.
Kath will be at 6 Monmouth Road Every Tuesday (10am – 1pm)
You can call 0300 555 5560 and ask to leave a message for Kath. If she isn’t around, someone will get back to you.
Visit togetherhousing.co.uk/ placeshaping-information/ or scan the code to complete the online form.
Park life
Over the past 12 months we’ve been listening to what the community has asked for and many of you have concerns about the park. You’ve told us it's an amazing space, but that you were sorry to see the play equipment go and wondered what our plans were for it.
Together Housing maintains a small number of play areas around Blackburn and from time to time play equipment becomes unsafe and has to be removed. Normally, when we remove play equipment we replace it shortly afterwards. However, because we knew we’d be wanting to do bigger and better things in Whitebirk, we decided to wait until we had heard what it was the community wants.
As we move into Spring and Summer we’re hoping to put on some activities in the park and gather even more ideas. We’ve heard about some of the play equipment you want, how the Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) could have a softer surface and from those of you who want improved accessibility. What other ideas do you have? Come along to our events and find out.
Your Place, Your Plans
Placeshaping is a long process which means some things can take some time, but things also never stop. That’s why we’re still interested to hear your thoughts and ideas and, in the next few months, we’ll be continuing to work with you.
To keep up to date, don’t forget to sign up to our digital newsletter. We will also post leaflets and newsletters to you from time to time.