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This last
financial year has seen yet more additions to the
Association's housing stock and further investment in
its existing properties.
 On
the new development front, the year was crowned by the
completion on time in October 2007 of our new scheme of
eighteen units at Weston Rhyn. This scheme which
comprises six 3 bedroom houses, eight 2 bedroom houses,
two 3 bedroom bungalows and two 2 bedroom bungalows was
our first to be built with a timber frame construction
and the first to achieve the Eco-Homes “Very Good”
standard. The result is 18 well insulated homes which
loose very little heat or carbon dioxide; heating bills
for these homes are therefore low compared with houses
built by traditional construction methods.
We were delighted therefore when Mr. Paul Shevlin, Chief
Executive of Oswestry Borough Council agreed to formally
open the scheme in April. After the opening ceremony,
Mrs. Rosemary Abbiss, Chairman of Housing Management
made presentation to Mr. & Mrs. Davies and their
daughter Bethan who live in one of the 3 bedroom
bungalows which the Association was able to have
specially adapted to meet Bethan's needs while it was
under construction.
Further additions to our stock were made when in June of
last year we took a long lease from Shrewsbury & Atcham
Borough Council on Cemetery Lodge, a distinctive
property which had been adapted to a high standard by
the Council to form a 2 bedroom house. This stone built
property was once one of the administrative buildings
attached to Shrewsbury Cemetery and provides a
convenient near to town centre home. Later in March of
this year we entered into a long lease, again with
Shrewsbury & Atcham on four newly built houses in the
Ditherington area of Shrewsbury thus enabling us to
provide much needed family accommodation in the town.
 Our
future development ambitions received a boost when at
the end of the financial year we received approval from
the Housing Corporation for two new schemes. The first
is at Chorley in Bridgnorth District where we will be
building four 3 bedroom and two 2 bedroom houses for
local families and the other is at Tern Hill in North
Shropshire where we are planning four 2 bedroom homes.
While we have been making additions to our stock we have
not been neglecting our existing properties. Throughout
the year we have continued with our programme of making
improvements to a number of homes particularly in our
older schemes. As well as continuing with our programme
of installing additional insulation to those homes which
we judge would benefit most from it, we have installed
new double glazed windows in three of our oldest schemes
and new kitchens in three other schemes where these were
particularly needed.
As for our daily repairs service this has shown further
improvement over the previous two years or so, although
response times are still not as good as we would like
them to be. A lot of this was due to early teething
problems with our new contractors who, having taken on
the work a very short notice took time to get themselves
adequately organised. However, we believe that these
difficulties have now been overcome and that response
times are much improved.
Outside of its own work the Association has been making
contributions to the wider world of housing and to the
community it is involved in.
Last year we
donated £1,000 to the Shawbury Action Group as a
contribution towards the provision of amenities for
young people in the Parish.
Earlier in 2008 the Association was represented on the
Taylor Review an enquiry by Matthew Taylor MP into the
provision of affordable housing in rural areas. The
report of that review is due to be published very
shortly.
Lastly, together with other Registered Social Landlords,
the Association has been maintaining a close watching
brief on the preparations for the new unitary authority
in Shropshire. We see it as vitally important that the
close working relationships we currently enjoy with the
existing district councils are not lost once the new
authority comes into being. |
