Sandy celebration: Pride of Place Day
Thursday, 11 November 2021
Residents of Sandy have celebrated their first Pride of Place Day, coming together to help create a safer environment and improve the look of Winchester Road estate.
We hosted the event at the Jenkins Pavillion in Sandy on Saturday 6 November, where residents were invited to drop in for tea and a chat with their local councillors, Bedfordshire fire and police services and Grand Union Housing Group.
Residents were given the opportunity to view progress on the neighbourhood plan, provide their feedback on the estate improvements, and find out about the town council’s proposal for a skatepark. They were also provided with information on how to join a community litter pick and find out about volunteering and wellbeing opportunities.
Our environment team also undertook a waste amnesty during the day, gathering bulky waste in the area, clearing fly-tipping, and collecting unwanted furniture, bikes and household items suitable for our reuse shop at Thorn Turn.
Feedback from residents highlighted parking difficulties in the areas of Winchester Road and Engayne Avenue. To resolve cars parking on grass verges, several unused Grand Union Housing garages have been demolished and brick planters, some of which were overgrown and crumbling, have been removed. This has resulted in an additional 85 parking spaces across the estate.
New planting over the next few months will create a safer, greener, and cleaner local neighbourhood. Footway and drainage improvements works are now complete.
Councillor Ian Dalgarno, our Executive Member for Community Services said:
Our Pride of Place Day was a huge success. With our officers and partners out in the community it meant we spoke to lots of residents about a variety of topics important to them. Our teams also carried out a waste amnesty to make the area tidy. We are confident our Sandy residents will see a marked improvement in the area.
We have also received positive feedback from residents on the changes made so far, praising the teams for creating the parking spaces needed to prevent dangerous parking on the grass verges.
Doug Grace, Director of Property Services at Grand Union, said:
After nearly seven years’ collaborative work between Grand Union, Central Bedfordshire Council and Sandy Town Council, it was great to see the local community coming together on the Pride of Place Day.
One of Grand Union’s goals is to build stronger communities and so we’re delighted with how well this project has gone. We’re also proud to be enhancing the area’s biodiversity by installing 12 swift boxes across the estate, and we’ll also be planting trees, hedgerows, and ground cover. This comes after we’ve just published our Environmental Sustainability Strategy.