Work is continuing on a new £19 million retirement living estate in Workington – and a time capsule has now been buried underneath for future generations.
The 107-home Harbour Place, on Lawson Street, is being built by Riverside Housing and will feature on-site care and facilities including a café and hair and beauty salon.
The site was visited by Workington MP Mark Jenkinson, who buried the time capsule created by year six pupils from Harrington’s Beckstone Primary School, with their predictions of what life will be like in 50 years’ time, when it will be dug up.
Along with drawings of flying cars and glass phones, pupils submitted predictions of a “healthier world” and a “better environment.” The capsule also included information about their favourite food and music, as well as small items such as copies of local newspapers, to provide future generations with an insight into life in 2022.
The £19 million project received £8m grant funding as part of Homes England’s Affordable Housing Programme, will offer a mix of self-contained homes with care for the local community who have care and support needs. This includes 79 apartments for people with extra care needs, 28 affordable rent bungalows for people aged over 55, plus facilities for the local area such as a community café and hair and beauty salon.
Mr Jenkinson said: “This important project will help meet affordable housing demands and provide homes for those with care and support needs. I look forward to seeing building work gathering pace over the next two years, culminating in an extra care scheme for Workington, complete with a community café and hair and beauty salon.
“At the same time, this will create jobs, bring a brownfield site back into use, and help address a growing demand for housing support and care in our community.
“It is really encouraging to see a major development of this type in Workington.”
Work on site began in April and is due to be complete by October 2024. It has been estimated that over its lifetime the development will potentially support 378 direct jobs, 296 indirect jobs and 570 indirect jobs created in the supply chain and economy.
Once Harbour Place is operational, it is estimated around 40 full-time equivalent roles will be created.
Andrea Thorn, Riverside’s director of homes and communities, said: “We enjoyed welcoming Mark to our new Harbour Place development which will offer much needed affordable homes with on-site care and fantastic communal facilities.
“With a quarter of Allerdale’s population over 65, this scheme will support people with growing housing support and care needs within the community.
“We are pleased to be fulfilling a pledge that we made to Impact Housing, and the local area, when they joined the Riverside Group four years ago by renovating a disused site into a high-quality development which will benefit the local community.”
