Former fire station turned into brand new homes

Despite contractors working under stringent Covid-19 safety measures over the past two years, the Council’s housing programme is currently in year four of the programme and is on track with its plans and has so far delivered 205 new homes, including a mixed range of houses, bungalows and apartments.

The local contractors are currently on site with 33 more homes and are a further 31 homes are currently in mobilisation and/or planning. 

The site on Boundary Road includes four houses and four flats and features additional parking spaces.

Alongside the building of new homes other objectives have been delivered during the partnership between the District Council and Robert Woodhead Ltd. This includes providing work experience opportunities to young people interested in the construction sector, training and courses delivered to employees and 14 job opportunities being created.  Importantly for Newark, 91% of the spend through the partnership in 2021 has been within an average of 40 miles from the sites, creating and sustaining local jobs. 

Work on the former fire station began in late April 2021 and more than £1 million has been spent on turning the site into liveable properties.

An opening ceremony was held on Tuesday 22 February where District Council and Woodhead representatives cut the ribbon alongside tenants who are living in the properties.

Councillor Tim Wendels, Chairman of Newark and Sherwood District Council’s Homes and Communities Committee, said: “We’re pleased to see the completion of these brand new properties which are now warm new homes for local people.

“We’re progressing well with reaching our target to build 335 new homes in partnership with Woodhead and we look forward to many more homes being built over the next couple of years.”

Tom Woodhead, Business Services Director at Robert Woodhead Ltd, said: “It’s great to continue our journey with Newark and Sherwood District Council and see another 8 new homes created as part of our five-year partnership. In addition to the homes, the project has also given us the opportunity to support a number of community initiatives including work experience, work placements and supporting the local Fire Service by allowing them to use the site for training scenarios”.

The programme of work has been procured through EEM, a not-for-profit procurement consortium which aims to deliver best value for the public sector.