Council flats ‘tops off’ after years of delays

Local TV

A years long project to help regenerate Grangetown has reached an important milestone and councillors have said they’re ‘over the moon’. It comes with the background of endless delays and issues meaning the building still won’t be finished for another two years, frustrating future tenants.

Transcript

00:00Work that's supposed to transform the Channel View estate in Grangetown is ongoing,

00:06but not as quickly as originally hoped.

00:08The multi-phase regeneration project will eventually replace all 180 existing homes,

00:14which were originally built in the 1970s with around 400 new properties,

00:18alongside new public spaces and improved local infrastructure.

00:21One of the buildings, though, has officially topped off,

00:24a ceremonial moment in architecture when a building's frame reaches its highest point,

00:29with one councillor saying she's over the moon that it's reached this stage,

00:33but says she is as frustrated as anyone with the years-long delays that have plagued the project.

00:38Leaders behind the project say that the delays were not in the construction itself,

00:42but in the complex financial and planning processes needed to get large-scale developments like this moving,

00:47with council leader Councillor Hugh Thomas saying,

00:50we all acknowledge that it has not happened as quickly as we would like,

00:54but it has delivered valuable lessons about how to speed these processes up.

00:59Ironically, the actual building work takes less time than assembling the finances and working through the planning stages,

01:06and that's a challenge across the UK.

01:08That building will feature 102 new community living apartments, community facilities, a rooftop terrace,

01:13and even a cafe, all designed to create a more connected and welcoming neighbourhood.

01:18Alongside new homes, the wider Channel View scheme aims to improve walking and cycling links through the estate,

01:23create better access to local green spaces like the Mall,

01:26and deliver a new public realm that incorporates green infrastructure and sustainable drainage systems.

01:32The aim is not to only provide modern homes, but to create a greener, more vibrant community space for existing and future residents,

01:39and those residents will want that sooner rather than later.

01:42James Peach Watkins reporting for Local TV.

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