Residents are being asked for feedback on plans to redevelop empty sheltered housing accommodation in Shoreham.
Two consultation events on the proposals for Ashcroft House, in Kingston Lane, will take place at Shoreham Academy, and St Julian's Church Hall, both in Shoreham, next week, allowing the community to have their say on Adur District Council's plans for the building.
Last year, the council's Joint Strategic Committee agreed the preferred option to demolish the main building, replacing it with 43 one and two bedroom flats for older people, and released £540,000 from the development programme contingency budget so the council could move forward with its plans.
Eight bungalows surrounding the property would also be modernised and made more energy efficient in line with Adur District Council's climate aims.
Proposals show the development would contain community facilities, communal garden spaces and around 21 parking spaces. All residents from the old block and bungalows would be offered a home at the new scheme.
The draft plans aim to increase the number of homes available to older people on the council's housing register which are cost-effective and promote independent living.
Residents moved out of Ashcroft House in 2020 after investigations found that the flats were in need of more fire resistance measures.
The building, which has been occupied by council tenants since 1982, has no lifts or wheelchair accessible flats and does not meet modern sheltered housing standards.
The total cost of the development would be around £11 million and the council has already secured £407,000 of £3.6 million of external funding to support the project.
Feedback from the consultation events will be used to continue working on the design of the scheme ahead of preparing the drawings and surveys needed for a planning application.
It is hoped that building work will begin early next year if the planning application is successful.
Councillor Carson Albury, Executive Member for Customer Services, which includes housing, said:
“These consultations provide our residents with the chance to look at the scheme we are proposing for Ashcroft House in more depth, and to ask any questions they have.
“Anyone who can't make it will find all the information they need on the website created specifically for this project.
“The feedback we receive is very important and will help to inform the decisions we make for the future of this sheltered housing scheme.”
The consultation events will be at:
- St Julian's Church Hall, Rectory Road, Shoreham, on Wednesday 23rd March 2022, from 3:45pm to 7pm
- and The Atrium, Shoreham Academy, Kingston Lane, on Saturday 26th March 2022, from 11am to 2pm
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