Lovell: Dust, Power-cuts & Cameras

Reporter: Mrs Janis Dodson. janisdodson@ymail.com

Around the Stonebridge Park Estate Building Contractor Lovell are continuing to cause a lot of nuisance for tenants & residents with all of the dirt and dust being blown off the building sites onto nearby parked cars, dirtying windows, and locals are walking it into their homes. This subject was raised at the Stonebridge Park Tenants & Residents public meeting in April, and despite reassurance from City Council officers that they would talk to Lovell about this nuisance to stop it from happening, the problem continues today. Lovell has made no apology to locals about this continuing problem, or made an effort to stop it from happening.

There have been three power cuts on the Stonebridge Estate over the last month, the most recent on 28^th June was caused by Lovell workmen accidentally cutting through electric cables. The power cut lasted 4 hours. Another inconvenience for tenants & residents.

Mr Robert Whyman ventured onto the Eastham Close building site in May to protest about the building of two controversial houses 9 feet away from his Lytton Close home. The incident could have been handled sympathetically, however, Lovell decided to be heavy handed and have this resident arrested.

Despite having permission from LHA to take a few photographs on the Eastham Close site on 14th June, Lovell informed Mr Richard Pearson that he should not take any further photographs on their land!

So this construction firm does not have a good reputation when it comes to building good relations with local tenants & residents.

Have you been affected by these problems, what do you think Lovell should do to put things right? Please contact us and let us know.

Fairholm Court Site: 1 July 2011

Reporter: Mr John Bailey. johnbailey78@ymail.com

The work is complete on this area of land at the bottom of Flewitt Gardens. The ground has been levelled, and a layer of top soil has been spread all over.There is not much else to say because the photographs speak for themselves.

Magson Close: 1 July 2011

Reporter: Sharon Easom. sharoneasom@rocketmail.com

A lot of work has been going on on this land behind the Coop, digging trenches, sorting bricks, and levelling the ground for months, but it just looks like Lovell’s have only just moved onto this piece of ground; its deceptive. I can see that the concrete base for new apartments is now in position so building work cannot be that far away.

I was talking to some of the people who live in the houses opposite, they are so annoyed about all of the dust kicked up by the work. It covers there cars, sticks to there windows and gets treaded into their homes. Lovell’s just don’t seem to care about any of this. On the day I visited Magson Close there was a power cut on the Stonebridge Estate caused by workmen cutting through an electric cable on Eastham Close. It lasted 4 hours, and this was the third power cut in a month. Again Lovell’s have never apologised to locals for the inconvenience; its not clever customer service.

Long Hedge Site: 1 July 2011

Reporter: Mrs June Gaskell. junegaskell@yahoo.co.uk

This is the first time I been to the top of Magson Close for a very long time. None of these new houses were built back then, now it has some nice big houses, and they look quite lovely; I wouldn’t mind living in one of these. The doors seem a bit odd along side the windows. From the back the big house on the front of this site seems to be ‘looking’ at you. The top windows are the eyes and the door is the mouth. I do hope that they open a show house here soon, I would like to have a look around inside them.

Eastham Close Site: Houses

These two controversial ‘small’ 1B type houses are located next to 9 Lytton Close. The size of the living room is approximately 20’ x 11’. Kitchen 10’ x 11’. Down stairs hall & toilet area 10’ x 10’. The Bedrooms are each 10’ x 11’. On the ground floor there is no coat room or obvious place to hang up your hat, coat or umbrella. There is also no Closet to store brushes, mops bucket/bowl, ironing board, vacuumed cleaner, tools or garden tools. Oddly, these two small houses are supposed to be connected to the EnviroEnergy District Heating Scheme yet the detailed house plans show no radiators in any of the rooms!

By comparison I live in a one-bed flat, the size of the living room is approximately 16’ x 13’. Kitchen 10’ x 15’. Bedroom 14’ x 14’ and bathroom 10’ x 8’. My 3 seat settee is 3’ x 7’. My double bed is 8’ x 6’. I also have a coat room 8’ x 4’. A closet 8’ x  6’ and a drying cabinet 3’ x 3’ because my flat IS connected to the District Heating Scheme. I also have radiators in all of the main rooms including the hallway.

The top photograph is a view of the front of the two houses looking towards the living room. The middle photo is a look inside the living room space, while the bottom photo is a view inside the back of the house from the proposed kitchen. The only door into the property is on the left.

Video: 15 June 2011

It was raining on this occasion! This is the latest film of the Stonebridge Park Estate; the video begins on Eastham Close Road, then Eastham Close, Dennet Close bottom-row, Dennet Close top-row. We then look at the Fairholm Court site, views around Rocket Park, then onto the top of Magson Close and the Long Hedge area, and finally the bottom of Magson Close behind the Coop.
   

For more information about what appear to be planning defects see the latest Eastham Close 15 June Blog Page.

Noticeable changes can be seen on Rocket Park where work has begun to level the grassed area and make the site more accessible, all of the trees remain in place.

The proposed road which appears on the new Master Plan (2010) running along the rear of the Fairholm Court railings and round into Farers Walk will not now happen as there is no money to pay for this feature.

Long Hedge Site: 15 June 2011

Many of the new houses on this site have roofs on and appear to be nearing completion as far as their external appearance is concerned. I did notice new walls and steps have been put in place at the rear of the properties on the upper row. These houses stand tall and look quite grand in there appearance.

There are no views this month from inside this site as the properties are very difficult to see through the wire mesh security fencing, I’ll try to obtain some images in the next 14 days. 

Magson Close behind Coop: 15 June

The site continues to be worked on every day to put in place the new foundations for what will be St Matthias Apartments, the Alcester pub stands proud at the top of this site, and I could not help notice The Albany Centre over the road. This is named after The Albany Works, formerly Wrights & Dobson’s, demolished in 2003.

Rocket Park: 15 June 2011

Railings were put up surrounding Rocket Park in late May and work began this month. A JCB and an excavator moved in and bulldozed the grass banks to landscape the site to form a more level playing field. All of the trees remain standing except one which was cut down, The site looks strange with its new hard core base laid down, yet when the area is grassed over again it will be much improved. New children’s & adult play equipment will be added later.

These are the latest Photographs of Rocket Park taken on 14 June.

Video: St Ann’s 1969 Pt 4

The is the final film of the series.

Video: St Ann’s 1969 Pt 3

Part three begins at the local Porn shop, and then Ken Coates & Richard Silburn talk about the meaning of poverty for St Ann’s locals. The film then moves on to show Blue Bell Hill Schools. Ken Coates & Richard Silburn conclude this section with a short discussion on the need for cheap family houses so that people can afford the pay the rents.

Video: St Ann’s 1969 Pt 2

The main industry was Nottingham Lace, women either sat together in groups picking the threads from ribbons of lace fabric, or individually in their own home, but the pay for this type of work was appalling. As this film shows some women worked very long hours to gain enough bread money to live on. It also shows a second hand shop, many locals visited these places to save money on clothes and shoes for their school children. My friend Lorraine Crofts grew up with their parents who ran a second hand shop in St Ann’s Well Road, and later had a similar shop in Arkwright Street, in The Meadows, Nottingham.

Video: St Ann’s 1969 Pt 1

Introduced by broadcaster Ray Gosling this film shows Old St Ann’s just prior to the slum clearance programme of the early 1970s. It is an interesting film because it focuses just on the poverty of our Nottingham inner city area. At this time St Ann’s was a large town with 10,000 inhabitants living in Victorian terrace houses. 350 shops lined St Ann’s Well Road with more than 22 public houses, several churches, and community facilities.

Dennet Close bottom row: 15 June 2011

Work is progressing well on this row of houses, and already the upper bedrooms are being constructed. They remind me of a row of Victorian terrace houses that once dominated old St Ann’s, and a look across what will be their back yards makes ones stomach churn. I do hope that these back yards will be far better then the deplorable forecourts of the old block of flats that once sat here !

The Pevril Site:15 June 2011

The block of four flats fronting Beacon Hill Rise Road is now complete with its maroon coloured front doors. Built in just 16 weeks this is a magnificent achievement by Lovell. The building stands proud at the front of our Stonebridge Park Estate, and is being noticed by passes by and people in cars already.

The foundations for a new large block of flats have now been put in place on the Peveril site hidden by the front security hording, and the foundations for what will be Bollywood Apartments along the Dennet Close Road side of the site is now being prepared.

Bollywood Apartment! How degrading, the Pevril pub stood on this site for years and has always been called the Pveril --- Come on Lovell, give us a break, these new units should be called The Pevril Apartments.

The top photograph shows the rear of the finished block of flats on the Pevril site, while the bottom photos show the new foundations that have been laid in the last two weeks.

Video: Eastham Close protest

Between 2008 – 2010 LHA_ASRA carried out a poor consultation exercise along side Nottingham City Council around the recent revised Master Plan, as a direct result few people were adequately consulted on the Stonebridge Park Estate. At the recent public SPTRA meeting in May, local Councillor David Liversidge said there had been changes within the company resulting in new officers being placed in new posts at LHA, and that things should be much better from now on.

Two controversial houses being built today on the Eastham Close Site have prompted protests from locals, and one resident Mr Robert Whyman, has gathered a petition containing 159 signatures saying the buildings should not have been built, and that local people had not been consulted. He was also arrested in May for trespass while trying to stop contractors from working on the property. This is a  Remonstration Video concerning the construction of this Planning Defect. The sound track reflects the opinion of locals that the interior of some of the new flats and houses presently being built appear to be rather small.

Video: Stonebridge 2007 Part 3

This is one final look at the Stonebridge Park Estate before the bulldozers moved in in January 2008.

Many locals were saddened to leave this Estate and lose all of their friends / neighbours who were dispersed to live in new homes around the city of Nottingham.

Video: Stonebridge 2007 Part 2

The ground floor forecourts had lighting that was not maintained, and once the bulbs had burnt out, these areas were often left in darkness during the hours of darkness, the only illumination was from the street lighting above — if any. The forecourts have never been inspected by the council, so broken paving slabs, missing drain covers and pot holes often left tenants at risk of personal injury.

Lots of grass and weeds grew out of the cracks and crevices making the forecourts look untidy and unmaintained, reminiscent of the slums of Old St Ann’s of yesterday-year.

Video: Stonebridge 2007 Part 1

The blocks of flats on the Stonebridge Park Estate were mainly constructed by the developer Whimpey’s around the year 1976 and then demolished in 2008 – 2011. They are the product of the slum clearance of old St Ann’s, and were a planning defect rubber stamped by Nottingham City Council following a number of public enquiries.

It is amazing how people lived in these three tier blocks of one-bed flats, which were poorly maintained.

Tenants entered the front of the flats along concrete platforms (drawbridges), with railings all around. The top floor flats had the best security, while the middle row and bottom ground floor flats were quite vulnerable to crime.

With the construction of the flats came a maze of interlocking footpaths, quick get-always for criminals, and antisocial behaviour. The Police were left powerless to act as they could only patrol and respond to crime complaints on foot or mountain bikes.

The average rent was £ 46 per week with many people on social benefits. The main shopping was carried out at the Coop store in Carlton Road, now closed, and at Paul’s shop in Robin Hood Street.

The flats had hot running water and radiators connected to the EnviroEnergy District Heating Scheme. Stonebridge Park Tenants & Residents Association was formed in 2002, who pressed for the Regeneration Scheme which is happening on the Estate today.

The Pevril Pub Site: 30 May

The block flats on the front of this site, which face onto Beacon hill Rise Road, are nearing completion. The roof has been added and tiled, and the windows put in place. It is a very fine showcase building that gives the Stonebridge Park Estate a bright image, a place where young new families will like to live.

                              

The new house further along Eastham Close Road, has its roof on and tiled, while the windows may be fitted in the next few days. With the block of apartments under construction on Eastham Close opposite, this Road now seems congested and claustrophobic. Again, the front door of this house appears to open directly onto the road. However, this could change when the highway is developed later on.

The work on Bollywood Apartments on the Dennet close Road side of the Peril site is moving along slowly. I have seen almost no change in the building work over the last 5 weeks.

Fairholm Court Site: 30 May

Preparation of the ground at the Fairholm Court site is now nearing completion, with the brick / rock crushing phase complete. A pile of brick spoil lies at the north end of the grounds, while top soil is being spread ready for the area to be grassed over.

 This bottom photograph is a view looking across the area of the demolished houses on Flewitt Gardens.

Long Hedge Site: 30 May

Almost all of the roof beams have now been installed on both rows of houses on this site, while the main double house at the entrance stands tall and proud, with its exterior almost complete. It looks like a lovely dwelling house, with large windows that let in plenty of light.

Magson Close Near Coop: 30 May

This site continues to undergo change as the foundations are now being prepared for what the detailed site plans describe as “St Matthias Apartments.” It was raining when these latest photographs were being taken.

Over the last eight weeks a considerable amount of fine brown talcum powder like dust has been blowing onto cars in the street and the houses opposite. The contractor has not sprayed the ground with water to prevent this. This subject was raised at the April public meeting of SATRA by local residents; however, NCC officers have taken no action to prevent it from happening.

 A view from the bottom of Magson Close 

Moving further along the Road

This is a view from the top of the site