THE new £20m Limelight hub has been nominated for a prestigious National Housing Development Award.

Trafford Housing Trust’s new health, well-being and community services hub has been shortlisted in the Best Older People’s Housing Development category, for schemes with less than 100 residents.

Limelight is due to open in Old Trafford later this year.

The award submission highlighted that its Extra Care flats are spacious, well-equipped, with features such as free Wi-Fi and a video intercom door-entry system. They said every apartment has been designed to reduce the risk of falls, and have built-in assistive technology and alert systems which allow staff to respond quickly to any problems.

The entry also included details of highly sustainable building methods used to construct the Limelight development, and promoted the fact that a majority of the apartments are to be let with affordable rents.

They also focused on the facilities at Limelight, including: access to a new GP surgery and pharmacy together with an optician, hairdresser, library, café and multi-purpose community centre.

The development offers facilities for younger people and families also on-site. They said that this means that older residents will have the opportunity to remain linked in to the wider community and that the hub has been designed to create a dementia friendly environment.

David Teasdale, Limelight’s Centre Manager, said: “We believe Limelight is a model for community-based, specialist housing, care and support which places older people at the centre of their own community.

Being shortlisted for this prestigious national award is therefore great news for the Trust, our partners and whole Limelight team, and we look forward to attending the awards ceremony in London in November.”

Alex Atkinson from Identity Consult, a specialist Project Management consultancy who worked closely with Trafford Housing Trust to help develop the Limelight concept, said: “From the very beginning of the Limelight project, delivering a scheme which meets customers’ needs has been at the heart of all decision making. The result is a development that will have a really positive impact on the local community."

A selection of Housing Development Award finalists will be invited to present their work at a major housing conference in London on November 23. The winners will be announced later that evening at a black-tie ceremony at London’s prestigious Hurlingham Club.