£62k project to supply Hednesford council flats with gas
A £62,000 project to install gas supplies at dozens of council-owned flats is set to be launched in Staffordshire.
The work will be carried out at 28 properties in Lomax Road, Hednesford. Electric storage heaters will be replaced.
There is currently no gas supply to the flats.
The work will come under Cannock Chase Council's 2013-14 central heating replacement programme, which is costing a total of £1,024,800.
A decision on whether the scheme is launched will be made by the council's cabinet at a meeting tomorrow.
In a report to the cabinet, head of housing Ian Tennant said: "The flats do not currently have a gas supply, and a cost estimate to provide this has been obtained from the National Grid for the sum of £62,000.
"The cost of providing gas supplies has increased substantially in recent years, and within the context of this, the estimated cost of £2,200 per dwelling is not considered to be uneconomic.
"Whilst not all of the Lomax Road flat tenants have requested gas central heating, a gas supply would be provided to all the flats.
"The majority of tenants have requested this option.
"This will enable gas central heating to be provided to the flats at a later date where the tenants have chosen to retain the existing electric storage heating."
Under the programme, central heating improvements will be made at 265 council-owned properties in the Cannock area in the next 12 months.
Cannock Chase Council currently owns about 5,500 properties.
The housing stock breaks down into a range of accommodation from one-bedroom flats or bungalows up to four-bedroom flats and houses.
A decision was made in October last year to install gas supplies at Highfields Community Centre, in Hightown, Hednesford, at a cost of £10,000.
The centre provides community facilities for 30 bungalows which form the Highfields sheltered housing scheme.
