Shoebox Houses

Above: B1 type house under construction on Eastham Close

Above: B2 type houses under construction on the Long Hedge Site, top of Magson Close

I fully agree with the Developer LHA_ASRA’s  company motto: "Building Better Homes, Better Communities and Better Lives.” This applies to Stonebridge Park along side the tenants of their properties in other areas of the midlands.

 

I am deeply concerned that the 10 small houses marked B1 & B2 on the building plans for Stonebridge (6 on the Long hedge site; 2 on Eastham Close), and referred to as “Shoebox houses” by the Royal British Institute of Architects, will not be suitable for new families. Not just because the personal space of each new occupant per dwelling is too small to be healthy, it’s the small gardens outside each home that are unsuitable for children to play in. The garden space does not allow enough area for parents to erect play equipment!

 

Inside the two shoebox houses on Eastham Close, there is no closet to store children’s toys/play equipment, in addition to garden tools, ironing board, mops, brushes or even shoes or wellies!

For first time buyers with young children, these shoebox houses on Stonebridge do not appear to be value for money, and new families don’t have much of a choice. The only people that would want to buy these shoebox homes are those seeking to buy-to-rent, or to make a quick sale for profit..

In recent years, this is what has happened on the Wishing Well pub site, and opposite Hendon Rise (a former quarry) both in St Ann’s Well Road. Neither of these options has worked, and for sale signs are present all the time

 

At the recent SPTRA public meeting, my intension was to draw attention to the 24^th September publication of the RIBA report that looked at new build homes around the country, and in June I provided detailed plans of the B1 & B2 type houses so these could be decided upon as well.

 

There is no doubt that all of the new houses, flats & apartments under construction on Stonebridge are being built to a very high standard, and that your partner Lovell’s is building them speedily and on target. It’s not the quality, it’s the size that matters, and that is what I am referring to along side the smallness of the gardens.

 

I am not against the regeneration of Stonebridge Park; I am 100% for it. I do want the scheme to succeed and be a lovely estate on which people would want to live. I also know that the scheme nearly did not happen, and that locals are lucky to have this new phase 1 redevelopment. However, it must be done right.

 

In the 1970s & 80s Nottingham City Council made a number of planning blunders around the city of Nottingham: Hyson Green flats, Balloon Woods, St Ann’s, and Phase-10 / Marple Square (St Ann’s); all of which either had to be demolished and the region rebuilt, or the area regenerated after a relatively short period of time. The blocks of flats which once stood on Stonebridge Park had a lifespan of only 32 years!

 

I do not want to see the planning defects of today become the slums of tomorrow!