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Chairing Fusions and negotiating Nubia Way to its successful conclusion gave me the confidence and skills to lead wider regeneration work. I secured £50,000 to improve the Woodland Walk, which had suffered 150 fires in one summer. We worked with local schools and the community to design mosaics and street furniture which still exists 22 years after they were put in.
All the lessons from Fusions’ first two schemes were integrated into Chinbrook Meadows. It was by far the SLFHA’s most cost-effective scheme. On budget and ahead of schedule.
It shows that when you prepare properly self-build can deliver outstanding results. Housing associations have lost many of the skills required to deliver a self-build scheme. However I believe the next generation are crying out for affordable eco homes.
We trained 82 NVQ trainees one went on to work on the Jubilee Line extension earning £50,000 per year in his first job two decades ago. Charmain set up her own building company employing up to 11 people.
I became a founder member of Downham Dividend Society Community Land Trust (CLT) Ltd . It leads the Green Woman Oasis Project which seeks to build tree houses around a neglected 15th century pond and tree walk as well as canopy level nature reception centre. It works closely with local schools who are members of school a tree-classroom. Pre-covid the Lewisham Mayor agreed to support the project up to feasibility stage.
The Trust has built an excellent partnership with the seven fields PCN. Dr Helen Tattersfield the PCN clinical director has a three decade long commitment to Downham health and wellbeing. The CLT’s ‘Downham Health through Sport, Leisure and Nature Strategy’ aims to maximise the public health contribution of Downham’s outstanding green spaces and ancient woodland.
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