Ballot

The Council is holding a vote to give you, the people who live on the Alton, the final decision on whether to knock down some buildings on the estate and replace them with more homes and improved community facilities. A common word for this type of activity is ‘regeneration’. The Council said we would hold a vote on the new plans after we stopped the previous plans from being built. The vote is to make sure our new buildings meet your needs. The vote is called a resident ballot. We will only go ahead with the plans if more people who vote say yes than no.

You will be asked to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the contents of a document called the Landlord Offer.

The Landlord Offer sets out the proposals for new buildings and facilities and how we will support people whose homes will be knocked down as part of the changes.

The new buildings are in four main areas:

1. Danebury Neighbourhood: New homes replacing blocks on Harbridge Avenue, Kingsclere Close and the northern side of Danebury Avenue, with a central green square. A community square/ events space immediately west of Allbrook House (current ramp and carpark location). A new block of homes to the north of the square with additional ground floor retail/ community space.
2. Danebury Shopping Parade: A replacement retail block with flats above, including a larger supermarket and an improved link to the Roehampton Sports and Fitness Centre.
3. Portswood Place: A new community building for the services currently based at 166/168 Roehampton Lane and the Danebury GP Practice.
4. 166/168 Roehampton Lane: Two new blocks of flats and a terrace of family homes.

We are also regenerating the area at the corner of Roehampton Lane and Holybourne Avenue (the site of the old Co-op and pharmacy, youth club and housing offices). There will be two buildings:

• a Civic Building with a new larger library, youth space, community space, shared workspace and council offices.
• a block of more than 50 homes for council rent including family sized and wheelchair accessible homes.

We committed to building on this site when we stopped the previous plans, because you told us you were unhappy that the site had been vacant for so long. This means that these two buildings will go ahead whether you vote yes or no.

Overall, we want to build between 600 and 650 new homes and knock down 177 homes. This means an increase of around 450 new homes on the Alton.

57% of the new homes will be affordable, which means they cost less to rent or buy than they would from a private landlord or seller.

Council tenants and leaseholders whose homes are being demolished will be offered a new home on the estate and will be given financial and practical help to move. A separate FAQ document is available with more information for those residents.

People who live on the estate as secure council tenants, or leaseholders/freeholders. Other people who live on the estate can also vote if you have been on the council housing waiting list for a year when we send out the Landlord Offer.

An independent organisation, called Civica, will run the vote. You will be able to vote by post, online, or phone and the voting will be open for three and a half weeks from Monday 22nd September.

Civica will write to your address to say which people in your household can vote, based on the Council’s information. You will also get a letter if we don’t think anyone should get a vote. You can query the voter list if you think we’re wrong.

The Landlord Offer will provide the information you need to make a decision on the proposals. It will be sent out around two weeks before voting opens.

There will also be lots of opportunities to find out more about our ideas over the summer via events, newsletters and online information.

This vote is about your home and neighbourhood. It’s important your voice is heard.

A "yes" vote will mean we go ahead with the proposals in the Landlord Offer.

A "no" means the old homes stay, and the big changes planned won’t happen.

However we will continue with the other activities you may have seen happening as part of the Alton Renewal Plan. These include more plants and better play equipment in our existing green spaces, a dedicated community safety officer, lighting improvements across the estate, colourful murals and artwork designed with residents, a community bus, healthy activity programmes and improvements to pavements to make it easier to get around the estate.

Yes, your vote is secret. No one will know how you voted.

We think the Alton is a great place but we know it has some problems and that you understand it best because you live here.

When we asked for your views in 2023 you told us that the Alton needed more affordable council homes for you and your families and that some current blocks were difficult to live in.

This might be because of the way they were built, or because the layout of the streets and pavements doesn’t cope well with the Alton’s hills. We have also noticed that some of our community buildings are not easy to use for everyone in the community.

You also told us that you liked lots of the estate and that the old scheme was going to demolish too many buildings and build too many flats for sale.

We think these proposals are a good fit with what you told us the Alton needed.

Firstly, the designs of the new buildings and spaces are different and respond to your feedback about what works best in the Alton landscape. They also provide more homes, and more green spaces, and help people move about the estate more easily.

Secondly more of the homes will be genuinely affordable council homes for local people on the estate.

Thirdly, we are no longer demolishing Allbrook House, the current library building, or the blocks at 117-211 and 213-243 Danebury Avenue.

Instead they will undergo a programme of major repairs including new windows for Danebury and Allbrook and a new roof for Allbrook. When the library moves to its new home in the Civic Building, the current building can be used for shops or community organisations.

If residents vote yes in the ballot then the works will go ahead.

The Council will be leading the work this time rather than working jointly with a private development partner, and so the decision to go ahead is in our control and we are accountable to you as residents

Big programmes do take a long time and we expect it will be about ten years from start to finish. However, we will be phasing the development carefully which means we will do the work in the best order to reduce disruption to you all – for example by making sure you can always get around the estate, wherever you live.

We will also make sure that the builders comply with considerate construction requirements.

Our plans include a new village green and community square, play spaces and green spaces around Allbrook House and the new Civic building.

Some will be quiet spaces to enjoy the nature which you’ve told us is one of your favourite things about the Alton, and some will be designed to help people get together.

We are also delivering two new play spaces at Downshire Fields and the Alton Activity Centre as part of the Alton Renewal Plan. These two spaces will go ahead whatever the result of the vote.

We are designing some new parking spaces into the proposals including underground parking in some blocks. We will make sure that everyone who lives here now is able to park before we allocate any spaces to new residents.

There will be a rebuilt shopping parade on Danebury Avenue including a larger supermarket. We will have to ask businesses to move around but will help local businesses to keep trading and will make sure a supermarket stays open throughout the development. Once all the work is finished there will be a bit more space for shops and cafes than there is now.

The plan tries to keep the parts of the Alton you told us that you liked while making it better for the future.

The questions and answers listed below are for people living in blocks which will be demolished.

The following blocks will be demolished:

31-115 (odd) Danebury Avenue

1-28 Kingsclere Close

1-115 Harbridge Avenue

We will make sure there is a new home built for you to move into before we demolish your block. This means you will only have to move once.

We know moving can be hard. You will have a dedicated council officer to help you through this process and help you with any concerns or worries you may have.

If you are a homeowner and don’t want to sell your home to us we may end up buying it through something called a Compulsory Purchase Order to make sure the plans can go ahead. Even if this
happens, the law means we still have to pay a fair price for your home and for the disruption and help you with the cost of moving.

We will offer you an alternative property and do our best to make sure it is somewhere that works for you. If you are near the top of the housing queue we will see if we can make you a permanent offer.

Yes, you will get help with the cost of moving. More detail will be set out in the Landlord Offer

They will be modern, warm, and designed to meet up to date space, safety and energy efficiency standards.

The size of your new home will depend on the number of people in your household. Your housing officer will assess your needs. You may be eligible to move to a bigger home if you have a growing family, or you may want to downsize to a more manageable property depending on your circumstances.

We will try and give you some input on both the layout of the flat and the materials used. This will take the form of choices between a limited number of options that our designers know from experience will work well.

If you need to, the council will try to make that happen.

You can talk to your housing officer about any specific needs that you have and we will try and offer you a home that meets those needs.

10% of the units we are building will be wheelchair accessible, and this includes some family-sized homes.

All the blocks of flats will have lifts.

Yes. You will be paid the full market value of your home, plus help with moving costs.

If you live in your home in the Alton you can use this money towards a new home on the Alton or elsewhere.

If you don't live in the property you will still get a fair price but you won’t get the chance to buy a new home here. This is because we want to prioritise the people who live in the homes that are being demolished.

If you pay council rent now, you will continue to do so. The rent will be worked out on the same basis as your current rent, but may be higher or lower than now if you choose a different size property.