Birks Court, Walsden

Walsden

Our first development, six new bungalows for independent living in later life, has been completed. Building began in March 2019 and was completed in February 2020. The bungalows are now tenanted.

Thank you if you were able to be with us for the ‘Open Doors’ celebration at Birks Court, Walsden on Saturday February 29th. We had well over a hundred people present, there to have a look round the new bungalows, listen to the Tod Community Brass Band and witness the Mayors of Calderdale and Todmorden plant a flowering cherry tree at the entrance to the site (and formally declare the CLT’s first development finished!).

The Mayors of Calderdale and Todmorden

Not only that, but the refreshments raised over £140 for the Todmorden Food Drop In and as there is one collecting box still to be opened we can confidently predict that the day raised over £150.

The bungalows have been allocated to people over 65 with at least ten years’ residency in the Todmorden Town Council area, using the Keychoice priority bidding system. The tenants took over their new homes in early March 2020.

The Mayors of Calderdale and Todmorden opening Birks Court

The Mayors of Calderdale and Todmorden

Birks Court opening

1-5 Birks Court, Walsden

Hail Birks Court

Birks Court Lounge

Birks Court bathroom, Walsden

Walsdenwith roof and windows 160919

walsden bungalows

Walsden roof going on

Walsden site sign

CVCLT and JEH in partnership at Walsden

Birks Lane, Walsden Site day 1

Walsden Site day 1

First spade ceremony at Walsden

The people who made it happen

First spade ceremony at Walsden

Breaking ground at the new community homes development in Walsden

First spade ceremony at Walsden

Simon Brearley, Chair of Calder Valley Community Land Trust and Neil Anderton, Chair of John Eastwood Homes congratulate each other on the commencment of work on their joint development

Walsden first spade

Richard Panter of Homes England breaking ground at the new community homes development in Walsden

Site plan of the development of six independent living bungalows.

The project has been a partnership between the CLT and John Eastwood Homes, the local almshouse charity which already owns twelve bungalows nearby. This is an innovative partnership between a CLT and an almshouse trust and as such has been featured as a case study in a recent report from HLIN (the Housing Learning Improvement Network). And here’s an article from a recent issue of the Almshouse Association’s Gazette magazine.

We own four of the new homes with John Eastwood owning the remaining two, and providing the management service for all six.

The land for the bungalows was gifted by Calderdale Council to CVCLT specifically for affordable housing, and we have also been able to attract government grant support (totalling £240,000) from Homes England.

The plans and our original planning application can be found on Calderdale’s website here.

We tried in the design and build to make the bungalows as energy-efficient and sustainable as possible. We’re delighted to be a case study for Slow the Flow Calderdale. You’ll find the case study here (Birks Court): http://slowtheflow.net/category/case-studies/

We acknowledge with grateful thanks the £20,000 grant and a £25,000 interest-free loan from the Quaker Housing Trust for the development.

Interior layout of our bungalows

Calderdale council press release here. And here below is the story you may have seen in the Todmorden News about the development.