Work restarts on new Greenhill council homes

Eight new council homes are being built on the site of a former pub in Greenhill.

The latest phase at the site of the former Cocked Hat pub site in Greenhill, Coalville, had been suspended as materials ran short due to coronavirus. 

North West Leicestershire District Council says work has started again with social distancing precautions in place as the council looks to push forward with projects that can continue during the pandemic.

Seven new houses and a bungalow are being built by the council’s contracted partner Robert Woodhead Limited, which is part of the wider Woodhead Group, providing affordable housing for residents that need it. The council housing waiting list for the district currently stands at more than 950 households.

The homes are part of the council’s new-build programme aiming to provide around 30 new homes for rent each year – adding to its stock of around 4,250 council homes.

Councillor Roger Bayliss, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Customer Services at NWLDC, said: “Following the completion of the 24 new homes in Ashby Road, Coalville last year, it’s great to see our latest project restarting after a short break due to Coronavirus restrictions. We’re extremely proud to be building new homes for people that need our support.  

“Despite the coronavirus we want to emphasise that, where appropriate, it is business as usual for us. This project can restart safely with social distancing in place, allowing us to make progress with building homes for people in North West Leicestershire.

“We’ve worked with Robert Woodhead on previous new-build projects and we’re delighted to have them working with us again to produce more new high quality, affordable homes for our tenants.”

Tom Woodhead, Business Services Director at Robert Woodhead Ltd, said: “Over the last few weeks, we have been working with our industry peers, government and industry bodies to understand how the government guidelines and CLC Site Operating Procedures can be implemented on construction sites. 

“We have developed stringent operating procedures, risk and method statements to enable us to start on site to deliver this much needed local housing with North West Leicestershire District Council.”