About £650,000 is being spent on a major refurbishment programme to improve sheltered housing in Cheltenham’s Barlow Road.
An estimated £400,000 of this will be used to upgrade the mains water pipework. This follows on from reports last summer from residents that the water was discoloured and ‘filmy’. Subsequent testing confirmed that the water was safe to drink and use, but due to the age of the pipework it was recommended to replace it to prevent further build up. The project is being managed by Lovell Partnerships Ltd. Work is due to start this autumn and is anticipated to take up to 16 weeks.
A further £250,000 is to be spent upgrading the warden call system from analogue to digital, in time for the government’s digital switchover in January 2027. This will ensure that residents can continue to be supported to live independently at home with the reassurance that help is on hand if needed. The project is being managed by Ventro Group Ltd and will include new ‘nurse call’ alarms in each flat for tenants to contact the support team, 24 hours a day. In addition new smoke and heat detectors will be installed where necessary and the video door entry system will be upgraded. Work started on 14th September 2026 and is due to be completed in the autumn.
The investment by Cheltenham Borough Council’s Housing Services will be enhanced by the planned replacement of kitchens and bathrooms where these have reached the end of their useful life, in 2027 and 2028.
Cllr Flo Clucas, cabinet member for housing and customer services, said: “The level of investment in Barlow Road both this autumn and over the next two years, is significant and demonstrates that safety and wellbeing of our tenants are an absolute priority. The planned work will help ensure that Barlow Road remains a safe, secure and comfortable place to live for many years to come.
“The process to get to this point has been long and complex but this programme now gives us the opportunity to go further by replacing older pipework and bringing the building in line with modern standards, while also making important improvements to fire safety, security and communication systems.”
Cllr Flo Clucas added: “While these works do demonstrate our continued commitment to providing good-quality, safe homes for our tenants, we also recognise the impact, disturbance and inconvenience that works of this nature do cause. We are working closely with tenants to help minimise those impacts and we will continue to liaise closely with tenants to help keep them fully informed and minimise this disturbance as much as possible.”