Stanhope, Kent

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Stanhope
latitude= 51.1315
longitude= 0.8538
civil_parish= Stanhope
population = 3,100 (2005) [cite web | title = 2005 Ward Level Population Estimates | publisher = Kent County Council | url = http://www.kent.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/E503169D-C06B-498F-BD0A-678EE22B4D37/6841/sae108.pdf |date=September 2006| accessdate = 2007-08-20 ]
shire_district= Ashford
shire_county= Kent
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Ashford
post_town= TONBRIDGE
postcode_district = TN23
postcode_area= TN
dial_code= 01233
os_grid_reference= TQ996408

Stanhope is a suburb of Ashford in Kent, South East England, the estate was built in the 1960s as overspill housing on the southern edge of Ashford.

Development

The complete Stanhope regeneration project, which has been planned and developed since 1999, is a £200 million PFI (Private Finance Initiative) whereby the private sector partner will be responsible for maintaining the community for the next 30 years.

The scheme is to demolish all of the 410 flats on the estate and replace them with more than 400 new homes. The new homes would be a mix of rented housing, owned and managed by a housing association, shared ownership and houses for outright sale.

The remaining 300 plus council-owned houses will be renovated and all of the building work will be carried out in the first five years of the contract. Ideas for improving the area were raised by local people during a "Planning for Real" community exercise held in 2000. The initial demolition was carried out by the Council in October 2004. [ [http://www.ashford.gov.uk/news_and_events/stanhope_pfi.aspx Ashford Borough Council] ]

Demography

As of the 2001 UK census, the Stanhope electoral ward had a population of 3,276. The ethnicity was 94.2% white, 1.4% mixed race, 1.6% Asian, 1% black and 1.8% other. The place of birth of residents was 93.5% United Kingdom, 0.7% Republic of Ireland, 0.9% other Western European countries, and 4.9% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 65.9% Christian, 0% Buddhist, 0% Hindu, 0% Sikh, 0% Jewish, and 3.1% Muslim. 21.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 9.5% did not state their religion.cite web | title = Neighbourhood Statistics | publisher = Statistics.gov.uk | url = http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadDatasetList.do?a=3&b=5945419&c=Stanhope&d=14&g=456960&i=1001x1003&m=0&r=1&s=1203683148113&enc=1&domainId=16 | accessdate = 2008-02-22]

The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 38.3% in full-time employment, 12% in part-time employment, 4.3% self-employed, 6.8% unemployed, 2.6% students with jobs, 4% students without jobs, 6.9% retired, 13.1% looking after home or family, 8.1% permanently sick or disabled and 3.9% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 21.2% retail, 18% manufacturing, 9.6% construction, 8.4% real estate, 11.6% health and social work, 5.6% education, 7.9% transport and communications, 2.6% public administration, 4.9% hotels and restaurants, 2.3% finance, 2.1% agriculture and 5.8% other.Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in agriculture, retail, manufacturing and construction. There were a relatively low proportion in finance, real estate, education and public administration. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 7% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.

References