Housing Minister John Healey MP visits Clapham Park
Minister for Housing and Planning John Healey visited our area on 14 January to see the Clapham Park Estate, one of the government’s New Deal for Communities (NDC) zones.
Mr Healey met local residents and community leaders from Clapham Park Homes, a community led housing association that now runs the estate.
Clapham Park Homes was founded by the Clapham Park Project, an initiative that has received £70 million investment from the Labour Government since 2001.
Recently the Clapham Park Estate was earmarked for £9.5 million of Government funding to provide good quality housing as part of the Kickstart house building programme.
In addition the money has been provided on the condition that Clapham Park Homes provide schemes for local labour and apprenticeships, ensuring continued investment and opportunities in the area.
The redevelopment of the estate will consist of the refurbishment of existing blocks alongside the construction of new housing. As well as Government funding, the project will be funded by the sale of new homes.
Good quality, well managed and maintained homes are in the process of being built in an area revitalised with a network of new parks, open spaces, better transport and good schools.
Commenting on his visit, during which he inspected the new housing, Mr Healey said:
“I am delighted Chuka asked me to come and visit Clapham Park so I could see how the money we have ploughed into the area is being spent and so I could talk to local residents about what more we could do.
“The residents Chuka and I spoke to told us that they were pleased to see the Government investment in the area, building homes and supporting jobs – that is what we have been doing since 1997 on the Clapham Park Estate and we will continue to do so.”
Chuka highlighted the improvements to the local area, saying:
“The Clapham Park Estate has improved massively from when I was growing up in the constituency and I will work tirelessly to ensure the investment and improvements continue.”
You can visit the Clapham Park Homes website and find out more about the project here: www.cph-online.co.uk
