After welcoming ideas from the community, the national housing provider has introduced a further community space to their £80 million plans.

It will see a new 264m² community centre form the ground floor of the new dedicated veterans housing scheme, which will replace the current Uplands Community Centre.

Four Estates, a charity led by local people who run the existing centre, has been brought on board to deliver a mix of services and initiatives within the new space.

The charity has been working closely with DK-Architects – the appointed architect for the regeneration – on the centre’s design.

From the additional community space, Four Estates will host a pantry, lunch clubs, fun days, coffee and cake socials, free pre-loved clothing events, health and wellbeing services, welfare benefits and energy advice, alongside the introduction of an onsite bistro.

The additional community centre means an enhanced community space offering with three dedicated spaces with a community café and an additional community area within the new Bethesda Church, originally included in the approved planning applications.

Riverside’s development project described as an “exemplar model of regeneration” when receiving a National Housing Design Award last month, has been commended for its skill and commitment to connect the wider area for the benefit of the whole community and wider neighbourhood.

Shelagh Kearney, from Four Estates, said:

“The introduction of new and upgraded community spaces in the area is incredibly exciting. Having the new centre located in the middle of the estate will be a huge benefit for our residents to have access to a variety of helpful and fun services right on their doorstep.

“Being nestled between two primary schools, it will automatically widen our reach, meaning our teams and volunteers will have opportunities to support more people.

“Working in the community, we see firsthand the benefit of spaces and centres such as those included in Riverside’s regeneration plans in connecting people with one another and the services they need.

“We’re very much looking forward to its completion and have a number of ideas for how we will expand our offer in the new space, which will be driven by the needs of and suggestions from local people. Please reach out to Four Estates on Facebook (FourEstatesRuncorn) to share your comments or ideas.”

Nick Jones, Director of Development & Growth at Riverside, added:

“We can’t thank members of the community and stakeholders enough for their involvement over the last five years. This extensive engagement has been an integral part of our work to develop a regeneration scheme that will deliver affordable homes and spaces that local people want and need.

“The feedback has been positive and useful in shaping what residents have said will be a well-designed neighbourhood fit for the future, and has led to including and developing facilities in our plans, such as the addition of three-bedroom bungalows and now this further community space.

“We’re really pleased to be investing significantly into the Runcorn area and are looking forward to bringing ideas shared by the community to life.”

MP for Runcorn and Helsby Mike Amesbury said:

“I’m really pleased to see Riverside’s commitment to engaging with residents and listening to their needs as they work to transform Palace Fields. It is especially encouraging that the regeneration plans support community organisations such as the Four Estates to continue to deliver vital services to local people.

“Riverside’s £80 million investment aims to have long-lasting impact on the Halton Lea area and promises to answer local residents’ calls for high quality homes in healthy, low carbon neighbourhoods. The plans also offer improved connectivity to transport hubs, enabling access to city centres and employment hubs to support economic regeneration, and aim to foster a wide and balanced community.”

The £80m regeneration project will be delivered across two phases in the Local Centre and Uplands. The announcement of the new community space follows the greenlight for planning in The Uplands area in May with works on the phase one Local Centre already underway.

The current community centre in the Uplands will remain open until the new one is expected to be complete in 2026.

The entire regeneration project encompassing Palace Fields across The Uplands and the Local Centre is expected to take around 8-10 years to deliver.

To deliver the regeneration scheme which includes the community spaces, Riverside are partnering with developer Compendium Living, Lovell Partnerships as main contractor, DK-Architects as the main architect, landscape architect Planit-ie, planning consultant Lichfields and employers agent Markhams.

For a chance to see how the approved plans for The Uplands and Local Centre will look, visit www.riverside.org.uk/haltonlea