Marian Greene has lived in her flat since it was built back in the sixties. There are four generations of her family that have grown up and still live on Longwood Park. She is also the Chair of the Community Board responsible for the day to day running of the estate.
“Can you imagine an estate where nobody wanted to live, pizza men wouldn't deliver and you were too ashamed to tell anyone where you lived? That is what it was like for those of us who lived in, what was then known as, “Those Common Road flats.”
Marian Greene has lived in her flat since it was built back in the sixties. There are four generations of her family that have grown up and still live on Longwood Park. She is also the Chair of the Community Board responsible for the day to day running of the estate.
“Can you imagine an estate where nobody wanted to live, pizza men wouldn't deliver and you were too ashamed to tell anyone where you lived? That is what it was like for those of us who lived in, what was then known as, “Those Common Road flats.”
Built in the 1960s, to ease Slough councils' ever growing housing shortage, the four high rise blocks of flats were quite luxurious. By the 1980s they were fast becoming slums. Drunks and drug addicts took over the stairwells, often using them as toilets. There was graffiti and mess everywhere. Friends wouldn't visit because of the abuse they used to get.
In 2000, Slough council admitted that there was no money to pay for either repairs or refurbishment and wanted to knock all four blocks down. Tenants realised that there was nowhere to re-house 384 families and the best thing would be to find a 'not for profit' landlord who would take the flats over and give the estate a much needed face-lift. It was estimated that the cost would be £30 million.
After a lot of exhibitions, interviews and voting by the whole estate, Parkside/Windsor Housing was chosen as the preferred landlord.
Longwood Park came into being in March 2003. Since then, two blocks were demolished, and houses and three-storey flats have been built on the land. The remaining two blocks have been completely refurbished with new bathrooms with showers. Balconies have been incorporated into the living rooms, and new kitchens (chosen by the tenants), and new carpets fitted.
We now have people wanting to come and live on the estate.
We have come a long way over the past few years, and won quite a few awards. The major one being the UK Housing Gold award, beating over 50 other Housing Associations and councils. Earlier this year we won Slough Civic Society's award for Improvement to the Environment.
We were even invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in recognition of what we have achieved, and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh paid us a visit and was very impressed with what he saw.
None of this could have come about without the aid of Windsor Housing and all the hours put in by a loyal and determined group of tenants, who could see the potential of building up a community where we could be proud to live.”