As work on Bournville Gardens, part of the new retirement village on the Bournville Estate takes shape; Bournville Village Trust’s (BVT’s) Chairman, Duncan Cadbury and the Trust’s Chief Executive, Peter Roach were joined last week by local residents to lay the community’s foundation stone.
Bournville Gardens, the flagship retirement village established through a joint partnership between BVT and ExtraCare Charitable Trust, is part of BVT’s College Green development and due to open next year. Applications open this summer, but already over 150 people have paid deposits as part of an “early bird” reservation scheme.
Designed by Bournville Architects, the £39m Bournville Gardens project is an ExtraCare partnership with Bournville Village Trust (BVT) with an additional grant of £1.232m awarded from the Department of Health through the Homes and Communities Agency.
Apartments will be available for rent, outright purchase or shared ownership. Starting prices for a 50% shared ownership home could be from £99,975 up to around £124,975 for a larger two bedroom home. Rental apartments will be affordable for people on a minimum income receiving maximum pension credit guarantee, demonstrating BVT’s on-going commitment to support local older people with limited means.
The Village will provide 212 spacious homes for over 300 local people. Each apartment has its own kitchen, shower room, one or two bedrooms and living room. A significant number of homes also have balconies.
Peter Roach, Chief Executive of Bournville Village Trust, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with The ExtraCare Charitable Trust on this project, providing high quality new homes and a range of fantastic facilities in a caring and supportive environment. The interest already expressed locally by people keen to move in has been phenomenal and we look forward to the project opening next summer.”
Duncan Cadbury, Chairman of Bournville Village Trust, said: “This is a project that fits what we need in this day and age. People are clearly making very distinct decisions for the way their care will be delivered in the future.
“I suspect that George Cadbury would be really pleased with how this is happening and the fact that 130 years after the first houses were built in Bournville, we will be opening Bournville Gardens.”
Cllr Steve Bedser, Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “I see this lifestyle choice that people are able to make with joy in their hearts as one that serves us well.
“This exciting development is the fourth ExtraCare retirement village in Birmingham and builds on the success of Villages in Newtown, New Oscott and Edgbaston.
“We can be proud of the opportunities being offered to older people in Birmingham. These Villages provide our older people with the choices they need in a modern 21st century city.”
Among the prospective residents attending was 82 year old Eileen Davis, who is hoping to rent an apartment at Bournville Gardens with her husband John (85). The couple are tenants of Bournville Village Trust and have lived in their house for 58 years, but John now uses a wheelchair and needs support, and Eileen thinks the Village will be more suited to their needs.
She said: “The house is too big and I’m finding it a problem trying to cope. It isn’t suitable for my husband. We have a stair lift because the main problem is the stairs, but we also have steps outside. I can’t push him in the wheelchair, so he doesn’t get out.”
The community could benefit over 300 local older people. Residents and visitors will have the opportunity to take part in a variety of hobbies, including choir singing, Tai Chi, writing, drama and wheelchair aerobics, all designed to support independence and improved social opportunities.
The mix of social facilities will be at the heart of the Village, including a library and IT suite, restaurant, hairdressing and beauty salon, fitness suite and greenhouse and Village gardens.
Picture: Duncan Cadbury, Chairman of Bournville Village Trust, Eileen Davies, BVT resident and prospective Bournville Gardens resident, Peter Roach, Chief Executive of BVT, and Richard Clarke, one of The ExtraCare Charitable Trust’s Trustees.