Foundations laid for Sawyers Close regeneration in Windsor, 'The Granges'

Abri has begun building its long-anticipated regeneration project in Sawyers Close, Windsor – giving it the name ‘The Granges’ and laying the foundations for the first 61 affordable homes.

Housing provider Abri, along with its construction partner, housebuilder The Hill Group, will be building 413 homes in total – 100 per cent affordable.

This will see the demolition of the existing buildings – four tower blocks of 192 flats which date back to the 1960s.

Almost all current residents are expected to be moved into their new homes within the next three and a half years. 

According to Abri’s surveys:

• Residents of Sawyers Close report ‘lower life satisfaction and sense of purpose’, along with higher anxiety and lower happiness, compared to those in Windsor, Maidenhead, and the UK overall
• fewer than half were proud to say they lived at Sawyers Close
• When asked about the regeneration, residents most often expressed excitement, concerns over slow progress, and ongoing issues with property or repairs. 

Certainly, Cllr Helen Price (Ind, Clewer and Dedworth East) thinks the regeneration is for the best and will render some significant positives.

First and foremost, there will be ‘far more’ social housing in this community ‘which is desperately needed.’

The energy efficient homes are also a positive, and the housing mix – not just flats this time, but also three- and four-bedroom family homes.

The current flats are ‘well past their sell-by date’ says Cllr Price, and are ‘in constant need of repair.’

“They can be draughty, they’re expensive to heat, the lift breaks down, the plumbing’s not good and there are leaks,” she said.

They ‘have to be replaced’ and the most energy efficient way is to ‘knock the whole thing down and start new.’

What is replacing them is set to be ‘very high quality’ especially ‘considering this is social housing,’ she added.

Currently, residents are being ‘decanted’ (moved into alternative accommodation) to an area close by, except those who have opted to be placed in other Abri housing instead - though this would be permanent*.

For those who are staying, Abri plans to mitigate the negatives by organising trips and activities, ‘to make life more tolerate’ for those essentially living on a building site.

Abri is also going to have water spraying ‘nearly all the time’ to stop construction dust from becoming airborne, which can be harmful to health.

The Sawyers Close regeneration ‘has taken quite a bit of time’ and there are plans to speed it up by combining two stages – building the first block and demolishing the first block.

One challenge does remain to be solved, says Cllr Price, and that’s the parking.

RBWM regulations have capped parking spaces at 0.7 places per home, she said, to encourage car-free living and help meet RBWM’s climate goals.

Residents have worried that this isn’t going to be enough, and Abri has planned a ‘car club’ scheme (a type of shared car service) to help.

Currently, there is no resident-only parking scheme in the area, and the plan is to make the Sawyers Close car park a ticket-barrier system to deter people who don’t live there from parking.

Construction is set to go on for the next five years. The latest update is that the foundations are being laid for the first 61 new affordable homes.

To mark the milestone, Cllr Price and fellow ward councillor Alison Carpenter visited the site.

*A previous version of this article did not explicitly state that those moving into alternative housing off-site would not be returning to Sawyers Close.