Work starts on housing project in Herbert Avenue, Poole

The new development at 56 Herbert Avenue will provide 24 energy efficient apartments spread between two flat blocks for people who are currently homeless or who require a stepping-stone from hostels and independent living.

On Monday, July 11, Poole-based AJC Group began work on the BCP Council led project, situated on the site of the former Bourne Valley Community Centre which had been left cordoned off and empty after its demolition more than three years ago.

The 24 new homes will be built to Passivhaus standards, with negligible energy demand in line with the council’s responsibility to reduce fuel poverty and declared climate and ecological emergency.

CGI of one of the proposed finished flat blocks at BCP Council's Herbert Avenue housing site in Poole

Three of the flats will also be wheelchair accessible. Plans include ten parking spaces and three accessible parking spaces, a bike store and a small communal garden.

The council hope this project and others like it will reduce the dependency on temporary Bed and Breakfast accommodation for residents in need, instead providing a more suitable housing solution that can help stop the cycle of homelessness.

It had been planned that construction would begin in January but in December last year the Echo reported that increased building costs had delayed the project and that the initial preferred bidder, a Finnish company, had pulled out of the project.

This forced the council to go back to the market to find a new developer, ultimately landing a partnership with AJC Group. The delay, coupled with rising material and labour costs, increased the budget from £2.5m to £3.4m.

Representatives from BCP Council, AJC Group and O’Marah Construction at the new housing development in Herbert Avenue, Poole

After ground was finally broken on the site, cabinet member for homes councillor Karen Rampton said the development “will provide green homes for families in a great community and neighbourhood, with plenty of local and accessible amenities”.

AJC Group director David Cracklen said: “Working with BCP to deliver this development of much needed accommodation for the homeless resonates with our core social values as a company of building communities and lasting change.”

Cllr Phillip Broadhead, portfolio holder for development, growth and regeneration, added: “We’ve got a super-ambitious house building programme.

“We’re aiming to build over 1,000 directly delivered homes over the next few years, and this particular development is delivering for some of our most vulnerable in society; keeping jobs in the local economy, helping our residents and doing it in a way that sets high eco standards as well.”