My first year at the Homes and Communities Agency passed today with the visit of its chief executive Pat Richie to the South West. It was very much a day of two parts.
Firstly, and most importantly, she was in Bristol to talk to colleagues about the ongoing restructure of the HCA. The agency is consulting staff (myself included) on proposed changes which will see us reduce in size by 50% over two years.
After the two-hour briefing, we visited Hanham Hall, one of the most exciting housing developments in the country based on the outskirts of the city. The site is to host more than 180 ‘carbon neutral’ houses, built to Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. I’ve been to this scheme a couple of times, and am fascinated by the progress made on the proud Grade II listed former hospital building, which Barratt is converting to high environmental standards. Hats off to them.
It’s easy to forget that I have been in Bristol for 12 months. But seeing the progress made on this development and hearing about the agency’s plans for the future have brought that fact home today.
Some pictures from the visit can be seen below.