£40k invested in Marlborough community improvements

A local housing association has made nearly £40,000 of improvements to outdoor communal facilities near its homes in Marlborough for residents and the wider community to enjoy, and to help tackle fly tipping.

Aster Group worked with customers living at Lawrence Acre Independent Living Scheme and in homes in Purlyn Acre, both off Rodgers Meadow, to understand the improvements they wanted to make in their neighbourhood to enhance the area.

Sarah Durrans, regional director for Aster, said: “This has been a genuinely community focused project to improve the area and provide our customers with much needed safer and more manageable open spaces that they are proud to use.”

In Purlyn Acre, the housing association transformed a communal outdoor area which had become overgrown and untidy, into a safe and secure area for residents to dry laundry with the installation of new washing lines. Aster also replaced fencing and removed overgrown hedges to address recent fly tipping issues.

One customer from Purlyn Acre, said: “It looks brilliant, excellent job and is much cleaner and tidier now all the overgrowth has been removed. I’m looking forward to using it.”

At Lawrence Acre Independent Living Scheme, Aster installed a mobility scooter storage area along with new fencing and a secure gate to keep the vehicles safe. Resident’s scooters were previously covered by corrugated plastic which left them open to the elements, theft and vandalism as the area could be seen from the public footpath.

A customer from Lawrence Acre, said: “The fencing looks good, makes the area neat and tidy. I now have a secure and dry unit for my mobility scooter.”

These neighbourhood enhancements are part of the housing association’s work to invest over £1.2m in almost 50 neighbourhood enhancement projects across its communities during 2021/22.