New development offers boost to Hartlepool
With most of its stylish new apartments already snapped up, Hartfields – an innovative housing and extra care venture for older people – will open this week (31 July 2008) following a regional inaugural ceremony with the Mayor.
Hartfields is the result of an innovative collaboration between the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT), Hartlepool Borough Council, Hartlepool Primary Care Trust (PCT) and North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust.
At the opening ceremony, Iain Wright MP will talk about the benefits Hartfields will bring to Hartlepool including the creation of new jobs and opportunities for local businesses. The Mayor of Hartlepool, Stuart Drummond, will reflect on the importance of the collaboration that has made Hartfields possible. Councillor Gerard Hall will explain why Hartlepool Council became involved in Hartfields and what it means to them.
Stuart Drummond, Mayor of Hartlepool, said: "This impressive new development is a credit to our town and I am sure it will set a benchmark for other similar ventures across the country. It is an excellent example of what can be achieved by partnership-working and we are proud to be involved with it."
When completed, Hartfields will have 242 homes: a mix of one and two-bedroom properties. Residents, as well as local people, will be able to enjoy an impressive range of communal facilities including a restaurant and café bar, a health activity centre with fully equipped gym and spa pool, a convenience grocery store, an arts and crafts workshop, a library with IT suite, and a hairdressing salon.
Hartfields will not only have excellent homes but, through the close working of Hartlepool Council, Hartlepool PCT, the JRHT and North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust will also provide a creative approach to providing support for residents. These approaches bring together concerns about housing, social care and health with the aim of putting the individual at the centre of it all, making Hartfields truly a place to 'live and enjoy life'.
Properties within Hartfields range from those for sale, shared ownership and rental, with all three types seamlessly combined into one thriving neighbourhood. All have been built to the highest specification.
Diane Costello, Hartfields General Manager, said: "Hartfields is a forward-thinking development that offers top quality and wide-ranging facilities and care that are second to none. All of the homes at Hartfields have been built to the Lifetime Homes standard so that they can be adapted to the residents' requirements over time.
"Hartfields has benefited from the JRHT's decade of experience as a provider of the UK's first continuing care retirement community – Hartrigg Oaks in York – as well as from extensive research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation into what makes a retirement community work well."
