12:59pm Friday 6th February 2009
By Denise Rigby
A TEN year affordable housing regeneration project in Chelmsford has been completed.
To mark the event mayor Tom Willis planted a time capsule in the Boarded Barns neighbourhood area on Thursday.
Pictures, photographs and newspaper clippings detailing the history of the project since it began in 1998 were included.
Mr Willis joined representatives from William Sutton Homes to plant the capsule at the new look multi-million development.
William Sutton Homes - an affordable housing provider - teamed up with the borough council and builders Countryside Properties to transform the existing inter-war properties into a total of 165 affordable homes.
The first stage was completed in 1998 and the final stage comprising nine two bedroomed houses, three one bedroomed flats and 19 two bedroomed flats has just been completed.
Irene Evans,68, who has lived in the Boarded Barns area since childhood and moved into a flat completed in the first phase said: “\i have seen a lot of changes in the neighbourhood and I think the new flats look lovely and it has improved so much for the better.
“When I lived here as a child the old houses did not have any central heating and we just had a coal fire in the downstairs room.”
Julia Coulton, regional director of William Sutton Homes, said: “We are delighted that the ten year transformation of Boarded Barns is now complete. The regeneration marks a bright new start for residents and to celebrate this we wanted to leave a little bit of Boarded Barns history for future generations.”
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