Bentilee
Encyclopedia
Bentilee is a suburb
and housing estate
in Stoke-on-Trent
, Staffordshire situated between Hanley and Longton
, and parallel with Fenton, Staffordshire
.
Originally, it consisted almost wholly of social housing, managed by the City Council. The Right to Buy Act brought in by the Conservative government of the 1980s led to many of the semi-detached houses that make up most of the housing stock in the area being bought by their tenants, so that now approximately 25% of local houses are privately owned.
In the 1990s, the estate's 925 'cottage flats' were transferred to the management of Bentilee Community Housing Limited (now called EPIC), under the Estates Action scheme that provided government funding to bring the properties up to a modern standard with many receiving new kitchens, new bathrooms, central heating, double-glazing, and rewiring.
scheme that aimed to do for the remaining council housing what the Estates Action scheme had done for the 'cottage flats' (but without transferring ownership away from the Council), as well as tackling local social issues and full- or part-funding a wide range of local projects such as Berryhill Retirement Village, the Millennium Project on the Berryhill Fields
that separate Bentilee from Fenton, Staffordshire
, and building the Moss Green housing estate (managed by Riverside Housing).
Seven years was not long enough to complete the ambitious plans for the redevelopment of the estate's main shopping and services area so the Bentilee District Centre Project was set up to carry on this work. The final result is a single building comprising shopping facilities, local library, IT Centre, walk-in health centre, and the CAB -- unique in the UK.
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
and housing estate
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, Staffordshire situated between Hanley and Longton
Longton, Staffordshire
Longton is a southern district of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and is known locally as the "Neck End" of the city. Longton is one of the six towns of "the Potteries" which formed the City of Stoke-on-Trent in 1925.-History:...
, and parallel with Fenton, Staffordshire
Fenton, Staffordshire
Fenton is one of the six towns of the Stoke-on-Trent conurbation which were federated in 1910. It is situated in the south-east of the city. Arnold Bennett called his fictionalised version of Stoke on Trent the "Five Towns", and Fenton has been dubbed the town Arnold Bennett...
.
History
Built in the 1950s, Bentilee was at that time one of the largest estates in Europe, with around 4,500 properties. The streets in the area are named after various places in the UK e.g. Winchester Ave, Chelmsford Dr, and Devonshire Sq.Originally, it consisted almost wholly of social housing, managed by the City Council. The Right to Buy Act brought in by the Conservative government of the 1980s led to many of the semi-detached houses that make up most of the housing stock in the area being bought by their tenants, so that now approximately 25% of local houses are privately owned.
In the 1990s, the estate's 925 'cottage flats' were transferred to the management of Bentilee Community Housing Limited (now called EPIC), under the Estates Action scheme that provided government funding to bring the properties up to a modern standard with many receiving new kitchens, new bathrooms, central heating, double-glazing, and rewiring.
Recent developments
In recent history, the estate has also been the subject of a 7-year-long 'Villages Initiative' Single Regeneration Budget (Round 2) urban renewalUrban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
scheme that aimed to do for the remaining council housing what the Estates Action scheme had done for the 'cottage flats' (but without transferring ownership away from the Council), as well as tackling local social issues and full- or part-funding a wide range of local projects such as Berryhill Retirement Village, the Millennium Project on the Berryhill Fields
Berryhill Fields
Berryhill Fields is 68 hectares of grassland in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent, between the housing estates of Bentilee & Berryhill and the town of Fenton, Staffordshire....
that separate Bentilee from Fenton, Staffordshire
Fenton, Staffordshire
Fenton is one of the six towns of the Stoke-on-Trent conurbation which were federated in 1910. It is situated in the south-east of the city. Arnold Bennett called his fictionalised version of Stoke on Trent the "Five Towns", and Fenton has been dubbed the town Arnold Bennett...
, and building the Moss Green housing estate (managed by Riverside Housing).
Seven years was not long enough to complete the ambitious plans for the redevelopment of the estate's main shopping and services area so the Bentilee District Centre Project was set up to carry on this work. The final result is a single building comprising shopping facilities, local library, IT Centre, walk-in health centre, and the CAB -- unique in the UK.