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Life in Erewash

Both are within easy reach of the M1 (Junctions 25 and 26) and have excellent connections with the east and west Midlands. Erewash also benefits from its proximity to East Midlands Airport.

Within an area of 42 square miles (or 26,955 acres) Erewash has a population of 110,300 living in 48,077 households.

The majority of our citizens live in close proximity to the borough’s eastern boundary, in Ilkeston and Long Eaton (both c.37,000). The remaining residents live in the rural or semi-rural villages within relatively easy commuting distance of the two towns, as well as Nottingham and Derby.

The historic success of the Erewash economy was founded upon coal mining, iron working, textiles and railways.

In 2007 Saint-Gobain Pipelines plc based at Stanton closed providing the potential for a new mixed use regeneration project, which will create in excess of 3,000 homes and new employment.

Whilst there is currently a shortage of land for new business, we recognise that the regenerated site has the potential to meet a 20 year plus supply need.

Manufacturing industry still provides more than 30 per cent of jobs and accounts for 1 in 5 of the area’s 2,400 firms. Areas of employment growth have occurred in engineering, furniture making, packaging, electronics and distribution. In some respects our local economy is stronger as a result of this diversification.

The average age for the borough is getting higher i.e. those aged 75 and over increasing from 7.6 percent in 2003 to 8.3 percent by 2010, bringing this group to a population of 9,300. We have made the identification of services for older people a priority in our equalities action plan and have identified a number of key actions in our Corporate Plan to support health and assist with maintaining independent living.

Challenges for us

The Borough has average overall deprivation, ranked 164th out of 354 local authorities in England (English Index of Deprivation 2007), moving from its ranking of 148th in 2004.

However we also know there are marked inequalities with a number of the borough’s communities. In terms of the overall Indices of Deprivation some areas of north Ilkeston, Kirk Hallam, central Ilkeston and Long Eaton are ranked amongst the 20 per cent most deprived communities in England.

This resulted in £1.6 million from the Safer Stronger Communities Fund (Neighbourhood Element) being obtained for the Hopewell Farm area of north Ilkeston. Action plans to improve the health and well-being of this neighbourhood are in place and we are monitoring outcomes and issues in this area to ensure that resources are directed to those who are most in need.

Erewash currently has 1,438 people on Jobseekers Allowance - a rate of 2.1 percent of the working age (WA) population at January 2008; 4220 people on Incapacity Benefit - a rate of 6.2 percent of the WA population, and 1160 Lone Parents on Income Support - a rate of 1.7 percent (of WA). Total unemployment at 2.1 percent is below both the regional and national averages.

Diversity

Erewash does not have any large proportions or recent influx of minority groups. In addition the black and minority ethnic (BME) representation is 1.9 percent of our population. Whilst the percentage is low in comparison with the East Midlands average of 6.5 percent and national average of 9 percent, we have one of the highest percentages in Derbyshire.

The most frequently spoken languages (other than English) have been identified as Punjabi, Urdu, Guajarati and Cantonese. The low numbers and diverse nature present some difficulties – there are no readily identifiable formal or social structures, making communication and consultation more challenging. We have taken steps to take our services out to hard to reach communities where English is not their first language.

To assist us in dealing with gypsies and travellers we have established a protocol that outlines our approach to working in partnership with them and landowners to assess and hear their needs.

Housing

Levels of owner occupation are slightly below the regional average. Average house prices are below county and regional levels. Whilst house price increases and lower quartile house price to average income ratios are similar to the regional and national averages, affordability is still an issue for many people in the district.

Housing is better than the national average but just over 20 percent of dwellings do not meet the Government’s decent homes criteria. Our Housing Strategy outlines what we are doing to improve this. We are also working with partners to ensure we meet the targets to make certain that our vulnerable households live in decent homes. The current number of properties made decent during 2007/08 is 57.

Good progress has been made towards meeting Public Service Agreement (PSA) 7 targets for vulnerable private sector households. Currently 73.1 percent of vulnerable households are now living in a decent home, with the result that we have met and exceeded the Government’s national target of 70 percent by 2010.

Our private sector housing strategy addresses local housing problems and will reduce the number of vulnerable households living in non-decent homes. Capital funding is provided to deliver against strategy objectives and we work closely with a local home improvement agency, social services, Warm Front and other support agencies to deliver improved local housing standards.

Data shows that almost 60 percent of new households who want to acquire new accommodation would be unable to access the local housing market.

Furthermore, there is an annual affordable housing shortfall of 279 units (which when projected to 2011 means a total of 2,511 units). We have therefore made housing a priority in our Corporate Plan.

Health

We have a slightly higher estimated proportion of obese adults in Erewash (25 percent), when measured against Derbyshire (20 percent) and England (22 percent). This rises to 29 percent in our most disadvantaged ward of Cotmanhay and we have set up healthy eating projects

We know too that the proportion of adults who smoke in Cotmanhay is 36 percent making it 9 percent higher than the district and 10 percent higher than the national estimate of 26 percent.

We also recognise the links between healthy eating and obesity with our estimated proportion of adults who eat healthily standing at 21 percent, against the Derbyshire and England figure both at 24 percent.

We have a slightly higher figure too for the proportion of deaths from stroke at 13 percent against the Derbyshire and England figures both at 10 percent.

Further information

There are a number of reliable sources of information about the make up of the Borough and these are regularly updated. Three of the sites regularly used by the council are listed below:

• Neighbourhood Statistics (opens in a new window) (Neighbourhood Statistics (Office of National Statistics)
• Local area profiles (opens in a new window) (DCC Area Profiles)   

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