Work has just started on the biggest council homes building programme for a generation in Nottingham.
The first of the projects is to build 26 new council homes, across four sites, owned by Nottingham City Council. It forms part of a much wider programme to regenerate areas of the city and build 350 new council homes by 2017.
The bungalows and family homes will be managed by Nottingham City Homes (NCH) once they have been built by Nottinghamshire construction company Robert Woodhead Ltd. The cost of the project is £2.85 million, which covers preparation of the sites, development and construction costs.
The four sites are:
- Wendling Gardens, Bestwood Park – four bungalows – started on site on 26 November 2012
- Keverne Close, Aspley – two bungalows – started on site on 26 November 2012
- Henning Gardens, Top Valley – eight family homes – starting in January 2013 subject to planning approval
- Windmill Close, St Ann’s – 12 family homes – starting in January 2013 subject to planning approval.
In Spring 2011 Robert Woodhead Ltd was 1 of 7 contractors that secured a place on the Efficiency East Midlands New Build Developer Framework led by Nottingham City Homes. The first development on this Framework, the 26 homes, was awarded to Robert Woodhead following a mini tender competition with primary consideration being given to quality and cost. The sites will be registered to the Considerate Construction Scheme and Robert Woodhead have set a target of 32/40 under current scoring guidelines, which if achieved, will demonstrate performance beyond the national average.
The construction of all 26 homes will be to Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 with a fabric first approach being adopted. The Code for Sustainable Homes Assessment will be conducted by Woodhead Living’s in House Code Assessor which will deliver time and cost savings to the client, Nottingham City Homes. As well as Supply Chain Partners working on site employing local labour, the projects will give ten NCH apprentices the chance to work on new builds for the first time enabling them to achieve all modules required for them to achieve an NVQ level 3 in their chosen trade and site management experience.
NCH Chief Executive Nick Murphy said: “This is the start of a new house building programme that will be the biggest for a generation – creating much needed family homes.
“It will also create hundreds of new jobs over the next few years – and give our apprentices the opportunity to get great skills and experience so they have an even better chance of gaining a full time job once they’ve finished their training.”
Echoing Nick’s comments, Glenn Slater, Business Development Director at Robert Woodhead Ltd confirmed, “We will be working with the NCH apprentices to provide upskilling opportunities on this new build contract. They generally work on repair and maintenance projects for NCH so this will be a great opportunity for them to extend and develop their skills. In fact one of the apprentices will be gaining site management experience.”
“On top of helping the apprentices, we’ve already created two new local jobs as a direct result of this contract despite only being 3 weeks into the programme.”
The work will also help boost the local economy – for every £1 spent on construction generates a total of £2.84 in extra economic activity.
Glenn Slater confirmed, “We are planning to keep spend on the sites as local as possible and certainly 100% within Nottinghamshire.”
City Council Leader Jon Collins said: “Building affordable homes for Nottingham people is a top priority for us and I’m delighted to see the progress on these sites across the city.
“We have ambitious plans to provide hundreds of new homes which, as well as providing much-needed homes for people to live, will also create jobs and training for local people.”
The City Council has already supported the building of more than 200 affordable homes over the last two years.
About Robert Woodhead Ltd
When it comes to choosing a reliable construction company, you can be assured that Robert Woodhead Ltd is here to stay. Established in 1946 and incorporated in 1978 we have grown steadily and now more quickly. With 69 employees and an on-going portfolio of projects, we are the partner of choice for anyone looking for a successful and proven construction company.
YouTube: search Robert Woodhead Ltd
Website: http://www.robert-woodhead.co.uk
Contact: Glenn Slater 01623 873624
Photos:
1 The Wendling Gardens site board Left to Right – Robert Woodhead’s Site Manager Peter Winson with NCH Chief executive Nick Murphy & Councillor Dave Liversidge – Portfolio Holder for Housing
2 The digger on site and Wendling Gardens
3 Ground Breaking with NCH Chief Executive Nick Murphy and Cllr Dave Liversidge
L-R Back row Craig Pygall, Contracts Manager, Robert Woodhead Ltd; Glenn Slater, Business Development Director Robert Woodhead Ltd; Pete Winson, Site Manager, Robert Woodhead Ltd; Mat Hall, Sales & Marketing Co-ordinator, Robert Woodhead Ltd
L-R Front Row Mark Johnson, NCH Director of Property Services; Cllr Dave Liversidge; Nick Murphy, NCH Chief Executive; Steve Edlin, NCH Head of Service for Decent Homes; Michael Broadhurst, Project Co-ordinator, Robert Woodhead Ltd; Cllr Brian Grocock, Bestwood Ward Councillor; Kevin Hornsby, NCH Regional Housing Manager; Anthony Slater-Davison; Cllr David Smith, Bestwood Ward Councillor
December 2012