First Choice readies plans for West Vale revamp

13 July 2020 11:14 Dan Whelan Comments (0)

The housing association wants to demolish two tower blocks and bring forward 90 affordable homes off Vale Drive east of Oldham town centre, as part of plans to invest £160m to build 850 homes in the town over the next six years.

First Choice Homes Oldham expects to lodge an application for the development, which would see the demolition of two 1970s tower blocks, Summervale House and Crossbank House, in the coming weeks.

The development would consist of a range of properties from one-bedroom apartments to family homes, according to First Choice.

Fabric Living, First Choice’s housing development arm, would build the homes.

Plans to demolish the blocks, which First Choice owns, have been in the pipeline for almost two years.

A review by the housing association found that, while there were no safety issues at the properties, both Crossbank House and Summervale House were unpopular with local people and would require maintenance at “considerable cost” to upgrade them.

The blocks are now vacant and residents asked to move out of the blocks have been rehoused.

The consultants working on the project are architect PRP, Markhams as employers agent and cost consultant, Whiteley Eaves as principal designer, engineers Alan Johnson Partnership and NJL Consulting as planning consultant.