Optima restores optimism

Attwood Green in Birmingham has been turned around with the help of Optima Community Association. Over a thousand homes have been refurbished, and 2000 more are being built.

Attwood Green in Birmingham has been turned around with the help of Optima Community Association. Over a thousand homes have been refurbished, and 2000 more are being built.
 
This is all alongside a new park, commercial space including a hotel, community facilities and better transport.
 
Attwood Green used to see a high turnover of tenants, empty and derelict homes, and ‘no-go’ areas. By the 1990s the area had declined to the point where local residents staged roof top protests and sit-ins to draw attention to what they termed, “The Slum Quarter of Birmingham”.
 
Following a ‘yes’ vote for stock transfer, Optima Community Association, a community driven housing organisation, was formed in 1999. The once highly oppositional residents have invested enormous energy into turning Attwood Green around. A sense of pride expresses itself through those residents who have remained firmly involved in the project since their original protests.
 
The project has retained a strong focus on quality of design in landscaping and the built environment. New housing is effectively ‘tenure blind’, with no discernible difference between owned homes and socially or privately rented dwellings.
 
When it won the 2005 Deputy Prime Minister’s Award for Sustainable Communities, John Prescott said, “The successful regeneration at Attwood Green shows what really can be achieved when people come together to improve their local environment”.
 
For more information contact Georgette Wright at Optima on 0121 687 3163

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