Horatia and Leamington House – what people told us

Thank you to everybody who told us what they thought should happen after Horatia and Leamington Houses are taken down.

We know removing the tower blocks will have a big impact on the area so we’ve asked everybody for their views on what should replace them and what should be done to improve the area.

Seven key themes came out of our conversations with the local community about the blocks.

People told us that the issues listed below were the most important to them.

We’re going to use all of the feedback we have collected, and this list, to help us to put together options for the future/

• Build appropriate homes.
• Make better use of green space and space for children.
• No more student accommodation.
• Consider wider area improvements.
• Better parking options.
• No tower blocks.
• Re-provide the social housing lost when the tower blocks go.

The 1960s blocks, in Meriden Road and Earlsdon Street, are being removed after we found problems with the original concrete construction while we were removing cladding.

Find out more about why the blocks are being taken down

‘Please tell us how you would like us to improve the area around Horatia and Leamington Houses after the tower blocks are taken down.

‘We will replace the 272 flats contained in the blocks with a minimum of the same number of homes at social rents. This can be done in a number of different ways.

‘We would like to hear your views on the area around the two tower blocks and whether there are improvements that can be made.’

• We knocked the door of all 1,100+ people living within 500m of the blocks and the 37 businesses closest to the site.
• We spoke face-to-face with 82% of the people living within 150m of the blocks.
• We reached out to the 233 latest Horatia and Leamington residents.
• We collected full feedback from more than 655 interested people, businesses, charities, residents associations and community organisations.
• We interviewed partner organisations including: all local schools, police, the fire service, the University of Portsmouth and homelessness support services.
• We contacted 68 harder to engage groups and attended the meetings of those who invited us.

• Door knocking
• Dedicated telephone hotline
• Dedicated web page
• Post
• Email
• Public open drop-in session
• Online downloadable feedback forms
• Home visits
• Appointments at the civic offices
• Public meetings (including community groups and resident associations)
• School fairs

We will take all the feedback we’ve collected and the seven key themes people have given us (see above) and use these to work on options for the area which we will bring back to the local community next year.

The blocks are close to a lot of other buildings so they will be deconstructed rather than demolished.

This means that they will be taken down floor by floor in a careful and controlled manner over a period of some months.