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Longfellow Parade - Basingstoke
Site history:
Popley’s Longfellow Parade area is among the 5% most deprived areas in Hampshire, and has the highest unemployment rate in Basingstoke & Deane, plus poor reading and numeracy skills, high crime and ASB. The area was prioritised for action in the council's North Basingstoke Action Plan in 2003, and that year the vacant Pen & Parchment pub, and health centre were both demolished - effectively signaling the start of regeneration.
In June 2003, residents suggested demolishing the Longfellow Parade block. Sentinel commissioned a study on the options, which recommended extending the redevelopment area to include under-used garages at Marlowe Close, and pockets of open space. In March 2005, the council agreed to donate land, and outline planning was approved in March 2007 for the demolition of 50 flats, and replacement with 99 houses and apartments, and to rebuild the three shops demolished next to Shakespeare House Health Centre.
Scheme history:
The main site is 1.55ha, and the development is at 65 per hectare, with 1.2 parking spaces per property. More than 800 people are on the waiting list for Popley and Sentinel owns
1123 homes in the area, with a turnover of around 65 per year. This is a challenging project due to site constraints, with existing homes adjoining the site on three sides and
the second site on the other side of the main road. The first phase was made up of 12
rented properties, and 13 for shared ownership in and around Marlowe Close, and completed in November 2008. The second phase includes six rented apartments and 16 shared ownership properties in and around Dryden Close. Also, 10 apartments above the three new shops in Shakespeare Road are to be let at sub-market rent. The final phase is the replacement of Longfellow Parade shops and flats with 30 rented properties and 12 shared ownership homes. Work started here in June 2009.
Features:
The overall project provides a mix of 43% apartments and 57% houses. The apartments are arranged in three and four storey blocks, with a contemporary cladding and render finish. The old Radburn-style alleyways and garage blocks have been replaced with a new open street layout with marked parking bays and wide, well-lit walkways. The overall development still provides 108 parking spaces, and Sentinel has contributed financially towards the local bus service. Two public art features are included as focal points of the development, the first of which is a wooden bench made from an old tree removed as part of the redesign. Further s106 contributions will improve the adjacent poor quality play area and open space.
