THE first new council housing scheme for Cheshire West in more than 40 years has been completed.

The final three council homes on the Chase Park housing development in Ellesmere Port have been handed to the authority by developer Vistry Partnerships.

The completion of this 45-home scheme is part of a larger borough-wide council regeneration programme to offer homes for people which cater for all budgets.

In addition to the 45 homes in Chase Park, 168 new council homes have been built in Winsford, Little Neston and Ellesmere Port.

When the final scheme of 17 homes is completed in Whitby Road in Ellesmere Port next month, there will be a total of 230 new council homes in Cheshire West.

Councillor Richard Beacham, Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Growth, said: “The Chase Park development is part of an ambitious housing and regeneration programme that has been adopted by the council to proactively facilitate and directly deliver new homes on council owned land.

“The Greyhound racing stadium, which occupied the site, closed in 2014 and the site became derelict as a result. The Chase Park development has breathed new life into the area, delivering much needed housing and crucially new high-quality local authority housing.

“Not only is the development providing affordable housing, it also supported local employment and training. More than 60 per cent of its workforce consisted of the local workers and materials.

"Up to 20 local apprentices worked on the project in roles such as construction and property fit-out. The project delivered traineeships and other training opportunities to local people.

"This has been a very productive and rewarding scheme for the local area.”

Vistry Partnerships’ Northwest managing director Brendan Blythe said of the development: “We are delighted to have been able to work with the council to bring forward this important new development of homes for the local community of Ellesmere Port.

"It was an ambitious plan by a forward-thinking council which has seen the first new council homes built in the area in decades.

“Vistry Partnerships specialises in developing strong partnership to deliver places and homes and this scheme demonstrates the strength of those alliances and just what can be achieved where there is a collective will.”

Chase Park is a new, 10.8 acre, £16m housing development on the site of the former Greyhound Stadium in Thornton Road.

It consists of 141 new homes, 45 of which have been built for the Council and are available for affordable rent, and incorporates a mix of two, three and four bedroom mews, semi-detached and detached homes.

Vistry Partnerships started work on site in October 2016 and the first three council properties were handed over in October 2017.

They were the first local authority homes to be built in the borough for more than 40 years.