Chance to have your say on Boscombe housing strategy (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Chance to have your say on Boscombe housing strategy
2:30pm Tuesday 19th June 2012 in Bournemouth
BOURNEMOUTH Council says people will be able to have their say on a housing strategy for Boscombe.
The cabinet has been to approve the plan at a meeting tomorrow.
‘Homes for Boscombe’ outlines how the council wants to tackle housing issues and “enhance the sense of community”.
The ideas include: reducing the number of bedsits, improving the quality of homes, building new homes, and reducing overcrowding.
The council hopes the housing changes will create a more stable, family orientated population.
Cllr Robert Lawton, cabinet Member for Housing, said: “For this strategy to be successful it’s important that the whole community, and not just Boscombe residents feedback their views.
“Boscombe has huge potential for positive change.
“We want to take the area’s best elements and use its potential to attract investment to make positive changes to the housing types and for the community so that Boscombe becomes a better and aspirational place for people to live and put down roots.”
Comments(9)
Baywolf
says...
3:14pm Tue 19 Jun 12
The Renegade Master wrote:I think if you get rid of houses converted to bedsits this will go a long way, but your right drink drugs and prostitution will tarnish any improvement schemes for Boscombe.
Before spending tax payers money improving existing housing etc. the Council will need to get rid of all the drunks, druggies and prostitutes from the area. Until that's done I'm afraid Boscombe will remain a dump.
MikeFrench
says...
3:26pm Tue 19 Jun 12
Simonb12
says...
3:44pm Tue 19 Jun 12
The area was very rundown and had a huge homeless and transient population, with cardboard city at it centre. Artisans were encouraged to take empty commercial units at reduced rents, weekly cultural events were organised in the area. It encouraged people particular families to visit. Trendy types start to show an interest and the area became desirable. When the local run properties were either refurbished or rebuilt by housing associations. They were made available working people as well as those on the top of the council housing list which made for a mix of back ground rather than blocks full of families on benefits
Talkingheadera
says...
4:03pm Tue 19 Jun 12
Where will they all go? Into 1 be flats paid by benefits which is paid for by us! Not all bedsit properties cause problems.
penhale
says...
5:51pm Tue 19 Jun 12
myengland
says...
6:30pm Tue 19 Jun 12
makingsenseofitall
says...
6:54pm Tue 19 Jun 12
Simonb12 wrote:What you say is all true and having travelled and lived in different parts of the country and world I have seen this way of doing things has worked elsewhere.
I work in property and at present only the truly desperate want to live on the roads surrounding the Crescent. Instead of spending a fortune on white elephant schemes- such as Surf Reefs and Ice Rinks, I think the council should look at other regeneration projects that have been successful. Gabriel’s Warf and the Coin Street Builders in London are a good example of this.
The area was very rundown and had a huge homeless and transient population, with cardboard city at it centre. Artisans were encouraged to take empty commercial units at reduced rents, weekly cultural events were organised in the area. It encouraged people particular families to visit. Trendy types start to show an interest and the area became desirable. When the local run properties were either refurbished or rebuilt by housing associations. They were made available working people as well as those on the top of the council housing list which made for a mix of back ground rather than blocks full of families on benefits
Our problem is that the Council do not listen to the community, so I have many misgivings about whether they genuinely intend to do so now; or is it that they already have a plan in place and are yet again pretending to "consult" us?
As for encouraging Artisans, yesterday, the Council gave the go ahead to demolish the Boscombe Community and Art Centre (BCCA)...even though there were 938 objections from the community to do this and only 2 for it....
The Council say they want to regenerate Boscombe by encouraging the Artisans and Art and Culture but their great idea is to destroy the BCCA...they are not stupid....they know this means that we cannot regenerate successfully without the BCCA so then you wonder ....WHY....who stands to gain from this decision..???
Giving empty shops to Artisans for a short period of time is the Council's idea of helping....it doesn't help at all as there is no central Art Centre to work from, or to exhibit from or to perform to draw enough footfall.
If the Shelley Theatre was open that would help a little as far as performances are concerned....but it doesn't help with workshop and exhibition space.
Many artists and local professionals would buy a large family flat around the Crescent if the Council agreed to convert the huge, run down Victorian houses from HMO's and bedsits to large flats....which has worked so well elsewhere in this country and abroad...but the Council are simply not interested in tackling the problem where it lies....
Norwegian Justice
says...
6:52am Wed 20 Jun 12
The Renegade Master says...
2:45pm Tue 19 Jun 12