Chichester Post Issue 143

Page 1

FREE ENTRY INTO DENMANS

Business at work

See page 19

See pages 23

Issue: 143

Chichester Post ISSN 2397-8732

ChichesterPost Your FREE weekly independent newspaper

t es er g r p La spa p s ' i ea ew sh Ar E N der E a FR Re

Friday, January 25, 2019

Homeless get help by council kelly.wickham@sussexpost.co.uk COUNCILLORS have agreed to spend over £100,000 to help homeless people in the city. At a full council meeting on Tuesday afternoon, members of Chichester District Council unanimously approved the allocation of £102,000 from the housing investment reserve. Members have supported plans to demolish a property in Freeland Close which they bought in 2017, to be replaced with up to 21 flats. THe council currently holds a reserve of £765,000 and the capital investment required by the council to deliver this project is expected to be between £825,000 and £1,080,000. At the meeting, Cllr Jane Kilby, cabinet member for housing, said: "THere has been an increase of more than 13 per cent in the number of people coming up on the list for homes, and this has included many families. "Our existing emergency accommodation has been operating at full capacity for the past year and we have problems trying to find suitable accommodation particularity for larger families. "As a result, we have been left with no choice but to rely on finding bed and breakfast accommodation, often situated outside of the district.

"We recognise that this is often a far from ideal situation for those involved, especially for families with young children. "In December, 2017, the council purchased a property at Freeland Close, adjacent to our temporary accommodation at Westwood House. THis property has been brought back into use to provide four, one-bedroom flats as temporary accommodation while a full options appraisal to evaluate the most effective use of the property is undertaken." Original plans had been to convert the property into four flats, with £10,000 set aside to pay to take the project to the planning stage. THe decision to demolish and rebuild means those costs will now be £40,000, with an extra £72,000 to finalise the design. THe estimated total cost of the build was reported to be £2.1million, not including the £208,815 paid to buy the building. Taking into account the grant and £510,000 of Section 106 contributions which will be requested from whichever contractor is selected to build the flats, the council expects to pay between £825,000 and £1.08million from its capital budget for the project. Work could start as soon as November this year but councillors raised concerns that this should be brought forward if possible. See page three



Covers Home Ideas, Gate 4, Quarry Lane, Chichester PO19 8PE | 01243 785141

coversmerchants.co.uk

See page 4 XX

Popular patisserie saved in city

See page 12 XX

Exclusive with Maisie Williams - See page ten

MASSIVE STOCK CLEARANCE

City's Refill scheme is launched

 FREE Regular Hot Drink! Valid until 30th March 2019. One Regular Hot Drink per voucher. Please hand this voucher in at the till to get your FREE hot drink.

BY KELLY WICKHAM

www.chichesterpost.co.uk


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.