BARNSLEY Council’s efforts to give tenants what they want has been praised by a Government minister.
Iain Wright MP, junior housing minister since June, visited Thurnscoe on Monday to see the work which has been done so far with cash granted to transform the Reema estate area under the Government’s Pathfinder scheme for South Yorkshire.
“I’m impressed with the way Barnsley Council has been consulting residents,” he said.
“There is no other area where this has been done and it is a good example of the community being on board from the early stages. I wanted to get a feel for the area, see as many normal people as possible and needed to see what needs to be done.
“I recently announced £1bn for housing market renewal for another three years and wanted to go round various estates to find out the challenges before deciding how it should be allocated. “There is a lot of potential for a huge improvement in Thurnscoe.”
He visited Margaret Wilson, 70, a widow and one of the first of 14 tenants to move into Chevin Housing Association's new bungalows in Church Street with a substantial home loss payment to refurnish.
She has moved from a house in Lingamoor Leys on the Reema estate where she lived for nearly 40 years and properties are being demolished to make way for 800 homes over 15 years. Residents voted 97 per cent in favour of demolition and the redevelopment site will be the largest in the South Yorkshire Pathfinder.
“It’s gorgeous here, like a palace and I’m back in Church Street where I started 45 years ago,” she said.
“I know I will have a better life. It was lovely on the Reema when we first went to live there, but it’s been terrible for the last ten years or so, when young lads started coming on and breaking windows, knocking on doors and swearing at me.”
