Nottingham Evening Post: April 30 2011

By caroline lowbridge

COMMITTEE members are urgently needed to save a residents' group which successfully campaigned for redevelopment of the Stonebridge Park estate.

Many members of Stonebridge Park Tenants' and Residents' Association (SPTRA) moved away from the estate so demolition of old housing could begin in January 2008.

This means they are no longer eligible to be committee members – and the association will wind up at the next meeting in May unless replacements can be found.

Richard Pearson, who runs a blog about the regeneration of Stonebridge Park, said it was vital for the association to survive and oversee construction of the new housing, which began in January.

Mr Pearson said: "It would be a shame if it closed down after all this time and all the hard work getting this scheme off the ground.

"The tenants' and residents' association should be overseeing this project and making sure that when mistakes are being made we can raise it and it can be put right.

"They could also push for new shops on the estate which are really needed.

"This social housing is meant for young people but there is nothing for them on the estate."

Founding chairman Maureen Graham died in August 2007.

Some residents referred to Stonebridge as the Bermuda Triangle because they felt it was being ignored by the city council and police.

They said they had watched drug-taking and anti-social behaviour problems escalate while standards of maintenance dropped.

Mrs Graham was credited with turning the estate around and won a holiday for her work. Speaking in 2004, she said: "I'm flattered and just a bit gob-smacked to be honest."

Mr Pearson attended the most recent SPTRA meeting at Stonebridge City Farm on April 20, and said it was well attended.

However, not enough members live inside the boundary of the estate, a triangle formed by Stonebridge Road, Beacon Hill Rise and St Matthias' Road.

Mr Pearson himself lives just outside the boundary.

A minimum of five committee members are needed, including a chairperson, treasurer and secretary.

Anyone who would like to become a member of SPTRA should contact Afzaal Nawaz at Nottingham City Homes on 0115 9157059 or 07940407187 or e-mail gettinginvolved@nottinghamcityhomes.org.uk.

I talked to Post Reporter Caroline Longbridge at the Stonebridge Estate on April 28