Pennywell
Encyclopedia
Pennywell is one of the UK's largest post-war social housing schemes, and is situated in the central-west area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
, North East England
. Pennywell is the largest local authority housing estate in the City of Sunderland. The estate was built between 1949 - 1953 and consists mostly of semi-detached houses.
The Pennywell estate has 2847 houses, 11% of which are privately owned and has a total population of 10,709 This figure is considerably lower than in previous decades, when the Pennywell area housed over 20,000 people.
Since the 1980s
, Pennywell has suffered high levels of knife crime and anti-social behaviour, which culminated in the fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Kevin Johnson outside his house on Patrick Road on the morning of 19 May 2007.The killers (19-year-old Dean Curtis, 17-year-old Tony Hawkes and 16-year-old Jordan Towers) were all convicted of Mr Johnson's murder on 23 November that year and sentenced to life imprisonment
. At the trial, it was revealed that after stabbing Mr Johnson they had gone on to attack another man in the area and also damaged two cars.Mr Johnson's family later had two applications for criminal injuries compensation
rejected on the basis that he had contributed to his own death by leaving the safety of his home to confront the teenagers about their noisy behaviour. A third application for compensation was successful, but the Johnson family received a mere £5,500 - half of the standard amount.
As a result, the Gentoo Group are undertaking a massive programme of renewal and regeneration for the area which will provide a high standard of modern housing for social housing tenants and homeowners alike. The first phases of this plan, at Waterford Green, are nearing completion.
An industrial area on the western edge of the suburb has, among other businesses Calsonic's injection moulding plant and the Sunderland Echo
building.
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
, North East England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Pennywell is the largest local authority housing estate in the City of Sunderland. The estate was built between 1949 - 1953 and consists mostly of semi-detached houses.
The Pennywell estate has 2847 houses, 11% of which are privately owned and has a total population of 10,709 This figure is considerably lower than in previous decades, when the Pennywell area housed over 20,000 people.
Since the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
, Pennywell has suffered high levels of knife crime and anti-social behaviour, which culminated in the fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Kevin Johnson outside his house on Patrick Road on the morning of 19 May 2007.The killers (19-year-old Dean Curtis, 17-year-old Tony Hawkes and 16-year-old Jordan Towers) were all convicted of Mr Johnson's murder on 23 November that year and sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. At the trial, it was revealed that after stabbing Mr Johnson they had gone on to attack another man in the area and also damaged two cars.Mr Johnson's family later had two applications for criminal injuries compensation
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. The Authority administers a compensation scheme for injuries caused to victims of violent crime in Great Britain and is funded by the Ministry of Justice in England and Wales and the devolved...
rejected on the basis that he had contributed to his own death by leaving the safety of his home to confront the teenagers about their noisy behaviour. A third application for compensation was successful, but the Johnson family received a mere £5,500 - half of the standard amount.
As a result, the Gentoo Group are undertaking a massive programme of renewal and regeneration for the area which will provide a high standard of modern housing for social housing tenants and homeowners alike. The first phases of this plan, at Waterford Green, are nearing completion.
An industrial area on the western edge of the suburb has, among other businesses Calsonic's injection moulding plant and the Sunderland Echo
Sunderland Echo
The Sunderland Echo is an evening newspaper serving the Sunderland, South Tyneside and East Durham areas of North East England. The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Temperley Gourley, Charles Palmer, Richard Ruddock, Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott Turnbull in 1873,...
building.