'New lease of life' for
riverside apartments

Chippenham Mayor, Cllr Marian Stickland, with Westlea Housing Managing Director Ann Cornelius, at the opening of the refurbished River Parade apartments.

Chippenham's town centre riverside has been smartened up by the refurbishment of seven apartments owned by Westlea Housing.

Westlea Managing Director Ann Cornelius and Chippenham's Town Mayor Cllr Marian Stickland cut the ribbon to officially open the refurbished apartments on October 14th. The ceremony was watched by those who have worked on the refurbishment project and two of the new residents – Wiltshire Police officers who have secured two of the seven homes for affordable rent as 'keyworkers'.

The apartments, at River Parade, were originally built around a decade ago but have become scruffy in recent years. And the area immediately around the apartments has sometimes been affected by problems of antisocial behaviour.

Westlea has spent the last three months giving its apartment building a complete facelift both inside and out, with new flooring and kitchens being fitted and railings installed in front of the properties. Each apartment has been re-let to local people, with the first of the new residents collecting their keys immediately before the opening ceremony.

Westlea Managing Director Ann Cornelius said: "We're delighted to be able to breath new life into this area of Chippenham town centre - providing not only much-needed affordable homes for local people, including two keyworkers, but an important contribution to smartening up the riverside so that it enhances the appearance of the town rather than the reverse."

Cllr Stickland said: "I have lived in Chippenham all my life and really want to see more done to enhance the waterside here in the town. These smart new flats will help with that."

River Parade Project manager Cheryl Scratchley, of Westlea's neighbourhood housing team, said: "The whole project has been a wonderful example of team working at its best with everyone involved pulling out the stops to get everything finished in time for our opening ceremony and the first of the new tenants to move in.

"We have also really appreciated the support of our partners including the District Council and Neighbourhood Policing Team as well as the brilliant response from our suppliers including SelFloor who provided the carpets and flooring and CP Fabrications who made and installed the railings at such short notice."