Yet another fence had been erected around the old Casablanca’s
site and heavy machinery could be seen knocking down what was left of The Millpond
pub!
Could this be a sign that the ‘new owners’ had finally
started to build, or was it just another photo-op for those who may not have
been born when the ‘new owners’ published the last one?
Back in February 2013, Cllr John Taylor - Deputy Leader of Tameside Council, speaking on the redevelopment
of the derelict Casablanca’s Health Club, said: "These are great times for
Stalybridge. We are finally going to see the end of a building that has spoiled
the town centre for almost eight years.”
“Empty buildings are not only a blight, they are a wasted
asset, especially at a time when we have to work so much harder in pursuit of
prosperity.’
You may well remember the well staged photo shoot, were the
councillor, with MP Jonathan Reynolds and some other bod, they dragged in to
balance the composition. This was to announce to the local residents and
taxpayers that the new owners, New Charter, had started to redevelop
the site and had chosen to use Tameside Council to carry out the demolition
work!’
To give them due credit, it started well.
Carefully painted in New Charter’s corporate colours; a ‘temporary’
wooden fence was erected around the site of the once thriving multi-purpose
fitness and leisure complex, which had stood derelict since being gutted by
fire in 2005; and now, according to ‘honest John’ this was to signal the start
of interior demolition work on the site with exterior work (ie Building
something) set to begin in the summer. (That was the summer of 2013)
However, and with the benefit of hindsight, we should have ‘smelt
a rat’ regarding the future plans for the site, when Sean Stafford, director of
development at New Charter explained: “We do have some thoughts and we have had
some initial sketches prepared.”
Invariably these days, whenever we hear or read about ‘New
Charter’ it’s because they have achieved yet another ‘award or recognition’
from some nebulous trade sector or Local Government Quangos. For instance a
couple of months after ‘erecting and painting’ the corporate coloured fence
around the demotion site that was ‘Casablanca’s’ - New Charter’s Building
Company achieved their first gold medal award that year - having secured consecutive
gold awards for the previous five years, demonstrating its key commitment to
carrying out all of their repairs and maintenance work to a high standard of
safety.
Since then, New Charter Homes has been awarded a top gong
for environmental performance. They gained an anti-social behaviour
accreditation with flying colours. They scooped a top prize and four other
accolades at a regional contact centre awards shindig. One of their young
apprentices from Dukinfield was recognised in the Construction Apprentice of
the Year category at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Property and
Construction Annual Dinner. They swiftly followed that by announcing that New
Charter Housing Trust Group had reached number three in 24 Housing’s Top 50
Landlords survey. Next, the Tameside-based housing association reached number 7
in the 2014 Sunday Times Top 100 Best Not-For-Profit Companies To Work For
poll, followed by news that Green Charter, the in house grounds maintenance
team at New Charter Homes scooped the top prize at a national customer services
awards in London.
Not to be outdone, The Tenant Management Team (TMT) of New
Charter Homes, who help to improve housing services for others won a regional
award for their hard work. Next award on the shelf was when New Charter Homes received further national recognition
for the third year running for the way it looks after neighbourhoods and
residents in Tameside. This was quickly followed by The Inspire team at New
Charter Homes who were crowned overall category winners for Building Stronger
Communities at the Responsible Business Awards.
14th August 2014, saw New Charter awarded the
national ServiceMark standard, recognising its commitment to customer service.
Come November, New Charter won another national award for helping tenants
struggling with debt and cuts to welfare benefits.
One significant announcement came in May 2015 when Moody’s,
a well respected, internationally recognised credit rating agency assigned an
A2 rating to New Charter. This judgement gave New Charter the opportunity
to move forward in the medium term by raising significant additional cash, meaning
that it is able to continue developing new homes for rent.
Following more awards and accreditations, New Charter became
the first housing association in the country to receive a new national
accreditation for the way it lets its homes, and later won a Green Apple
Environment Award in the national campaign to find Britain’s greenest
companies, councils and communities.
Following an award for Public Relations and communications
they next received the CIH (Chartered Institute of Housing) Health &
Wellbeing award based on the depth and breadth of work it carries out in
relation to the Government’s Health and Wellbeing agenda.
In April 2016, the Inspire team at New Charter Group were
recognised again in the Building Stronger Communities category in the 2016
Responsible Business Awards, run by Business in the Community, HRH The Prince
of Wales’ Responsible Business Network.
And last, but I’m sure, not for long – earlier this very
month (8th August 2016) New Charter Group was awarded the highest
standard for the way it looks after and invests in its employees.
A great record of achievement by anyone’s standards!
However, after three and a half years, since their grandiose
announcement of revitalising Armentieres Square, we
can only hope that this recent flurry of activity results in some form of
construction and with a bit of luck, at sometime in the not too distant future,
we can all celebrate with New Charter, a special achievement award for actually
building something that resembles ‘homes, shops and retail outlets’ in keeping
with the urban surroundings of Stalybridge.
Time will tell!
