Collaboration between Darlington Borough Council, Esh Property Services, Coast & Country Housing, livin and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has seen plans prepared and a start made on the site of the former Eastbourne School in the centre of Darlington.
The £7 million scheme is benefitting from over £1.2 million investment from the Homes and Communities Agency.
At the ground-breaking event held to mark the start of work on Councillor Veronica Copeland, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Housing, praised all parties involved: “I am delighted to be launching work on this site today; team working and partnerships have been hallmarks of the efforts made by all parties to arrive at this point in such a relatively very short period of time. This is a really important development for Darlington which will breathe life back into this large site – some 4.4 hectares - which is so close to the town centre.”
A total of 76 new affordable homes, 60 for rent and 16 for sale will be built on the site of the redundant school. 44 of the 2 and 3 bedroom properties will available through Coast & Country Housing; 27 for rental and 17 for shared ownership, 16 will be available for rental through livin and 16 will be available for purchase through Dunelm Homes.
Neil Cawson, Senior Area Manager from the Homes and Communities Agency said: “It is great to see these 76 homes starting to be built in such a great location. This is a really impressive example of partnership working that has been supported by our investment of just over £1 million. The different types of homes that Esh Property Services is building means that there will be homes to suit local people and by offering a choice of buying or renting the homes it means that they are available to everyone.”
These are the first homes available in the Darlington area by Coast & Country Housing and livin, and Iain Sim, Chief Executive of Coast & Country Housing, said: “Coast & Country Housing is proud to be delivering the Eastbourne School site in partnership with Darlington Borough Council, the HCA, Esh Property Services and livin. We are really pleased with progress so far. We are keen to make a long term contribution to this community and town by providing quality, affordable homes for local people and inward investment that will create job opportunities. We will work with all our partners to safeguard and create apprenticeships and job opportunities for local people as part of our ‘Forging Futures programme’.”
Wayne Harris, Executive Director of Property and Development, livin, said: “We are delighted to be building much needed affordable homes for rent for the first time in Darlington. We are passionate about building strong, vibrant communities and alongside partners Coast & Country Housing and Esh Property Services, will enable access for local people to quality homes and to our range of employability, financial social support products”.
Local people will have the opportunity to stamp their mark on the new development at an early stage. Esh Property Services is working with students at Darlington School of Maths and Science and the Education Village on a research project ‘British Wild and Wetland Bird Species’. It is planned that, alongside the academic and business learning which will be delivered to students as part of the project, a competition will be held to select the names of the new streets.
Graham Morgan, Divisional Director of Esh Property Services explained: “We at Esh take great pride in becoming closely involved with the communities with which we work and it was clear to us that both Darlington School of Maths and Science and the Education Village welcomed the opportunity of working with a ‘real life’ business as part of helping their students prepare for the world of work.
"Alongside some very serious work we will do to help the young people develop a sound understanding of how to plan their futures we hope that we will have some fun choosing street names for Eastbourne. It’s an important message – a good working life is not just about doing a good job, it’s about enjoying it too.”