£1.15 million refurbishment of homes completed

An event took place to re-open Chesterfield Borough Council’s Glebe Court in Old Whittington after a 1.15million refurbishment was completed.

Located on The Glebe Way, the property includes 22 one bedroom flats and has been refurbished throughout to create both a bright and welcoming living environment for residents.

Glebe Court is one of the council’s housing schemes for older residents in the borough.

During the renovations Glebe Court’s residents were relocated to other nearby properties, with the choice to either return to their former flats after the works were complete or to stay in their new accommodation. Eight of the original residents returned to the scheme following completion of the works.

The flats have all been altered to feature a balcony allowing fresh air and natural light to fill the newly refurbished kitchen and lounge areas, including space to fit a washing machine. The bathrooms have been converted into wet rooms with level access showers and the bedrooms all feature built-in wardrobes creating the sense of more space within the same footprint.

The communal lounge has been given a facelift with new floor to ceiling windows installed. The small kitchen space in the communal area has also been opened up into the lounge with the addition of a breakfast bar meaning that even when making drinks, residents can remain part of any activities that are taking place.  A quiet room has also been designed upstairs to allow residents to escape the communal areas if they want to.

What was once the laundry room has been transformed into a treatment room complete with specialist equipment making it useable as a hair salon and nail care room with mobile businesses visiting residents regularly to offer their services.

External areas at the property have been extensively re-modelled, including a patio area outside the communal lounge, a mobility scooter store and a walkway which provides a short cut to the local shops.

The opening event was attended by a number of guests including members of Chesterfield Borough Council, staff and contractors linked who were involved in the renovation works.

Councillor Chris Ludlow, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “The new facilities at Glebe Court are great. I have spoken to a number of residents about what they think about the refurbishments and have received positive feedback. It’s good to see that all options have been considered from creating welcoming shared spaces to comfortable flats that are bright and inviting.”