A Positive Turn for Local Housing
Many of you are familiar with the Fossetts Farm development, once tied to Southend United Football Club’s now-scrapped plans for a new stadium. If you’ve driven past the site near B&Q, accessed via the Temple Farm Industrial Estate roundabout, you’ve likely seen the unfinished houses and the halted construction work. This pause occurred earlier this year when the original developer went into administration, leaving around 35 homes at various stages of completion, some nearly move-in ready. Unfortunately, due to complex building regulations, the new developers cannot simply continue where the last team left off. Instead, they must demolish the existing structures and start afresh.
In a positive twist, the new developers have prioritised recycling and repurposing materials from the site. They have generously donated kitchen and bathroom fixtures and fittings to South Essex Homes for use in council-owned properties. We attended the site in late September to carefully deconstruct the kitchen and bathrooms, which are now stored for future improvement projects across the city.
Lloyd Williams, Property Services Manager at South Essex Homes, said: “While it’s unfortunate that the newly-built houses must be demolished, the developers are making the best of the situation by ensuring many materials are reused, recycled or repurposed. We are grateful for their donation, and these fixtures will soon benefit other residents of the city.”
As a result of their donations, we have already replaced the communal kitchen at Furzefield, one of our Sheltered Housing Schemes.