ROSE Hill is getting ready to party as the estate celebrates the arrival of scores of new families thanks to the completion of a £20m housing redevelopment.

A special event on Friday, March 23, will help neighbours get to know each other following the completion of 254 new homes.

A climbing wall for children will be installed on The Oval for the evening of community celebrations.

Thanks to a lottery grant and more donations from the Rose Hill Community Association and in kind donations from Oxford Citizen’s Housing Association (OCHA) a supper will be laid on that reflects the diverse population of the estate.

Organiser Fran Gardner, of OCHA, said plans were still being formulated, but she hoped music could also be added to the bill to bring crowds out to socialise and mark the biggest change to the estate in a generation.

She added: “It’s a celebration of the completion of the building work, marking the fact that OCHA have been in Rose Hill for five years and it’s also a celebration of the lottery funding and the social regeneration of the estate.

“With the clocks changing that weekend it’s kind of saying ‘let’s take this into Spring’ and begin the social regeneration of the estate by having a nice meal together at Rose Hill Community Centre.

“It’s a celebration for all of Rose Hill.”

She is hoping that the success of the Christmas tree on The Oval, which saw a huge community celebration take place at the heart of the estate last December will be replicated.

“There will be activities for the children,” she said.

The homes, built by Taylor Wimpey, have increased the estate’s population by an estimated five to 10 per cent.

OCHA tenants and private owners have now moved into the flats and houses which replaced post-war Orlit pre-fabs homes.

Longstanding Rose Hill resident Bill Buckingham welcomed the idea of a party for the estate.

He said: “It really is a good thing because with all the new houses and the nationalities here it will be a great thing to bring everyone together.

“We’ve got such an influx of nationalities and some of the people in new houses have only been in there a short while and they need to get to know each other.”