Sep 19 2006
National regeneration agency English Partnerships with its partner, Bournville Village Trust and developer George Wimpey Midland, have on Tuesday, 12th September announced that work is now underway to create a landmark community. This follows receipt of planning consent for Oakham Manor, the second residential phase of the landmark urban village, Lightmoor, in Telford.
Oakham Manor will see 103 new homes constructed, 25 per cent of which will be social housing and managed by Bournville Village Trust, with the majority to be sold on the open market. The house styles will include one bedroom maisonettes to five bedroom homes, each promoting the best design and construction methods by being built to the highest ecological and environmental standards and achieving an Eco Homes rating of ‘excellent’.
Oakham Manor is being built on the site of Stocking Farm, where some of the original buildings will be retained and refurbished, to create a further five new properties in the village. These will be the subject of a planning application to be submitted in the near future.
Oakham Manor will complement the first highly successful residential scheme at Lightmoor, The Laurels, which is being developed by Persimmon Homes.
David Rhead, senior regeneration manager for English Partnerships said, “This is an important step in the creation of Lightmoor Village. We aim to make it not only a truly sustainable community, with close attention to design, construction methods, IT and the environment but also one of the region’s most popular places to live.”
Lightmoor Village will be developed by Bournville Village Trust and English Partnerships in the spirit of Birmingham’s Bournville Village, a world famous example of an urban community created by George Cadbury, founder of Bournville Village Trust.
John McNulty, Director of Housing for Bournville Village Trust added, “We are now one step closer to the creation of a second Bournville at Lightmoor, which we are confident will become as successful and influential as George Cadbury’s original in Birmingham.”
Pam Bourne, Sales & Marketing Director for George Wimpey Midland said, “This is a particularly important project for us, given its unique circumstances and importance locally. Oakham Manor will be a key part of the overall village scheme and provides us with a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate first rate design and construction. We are looking forward to getting started.
“The George Wimpey sales centre should be on site by late September with the first releases being two and three bedroom houses – ideal for first time buyers.”
When complete, Lightmoor will provide over 800 homes of different types, of which 25 per cent will be affordable housing, on 72 hectares (178 acres) of land. New local services and facilities will be built and will help to stimulate the local economy and will provide an influx of new jobs to the area.
Lightmoor Village is one of four key sites in Telford being brought to market by English Partnerships. These include one of the country’s largest new communities at Lawley; Telford Millennium Community at East Ketley and the strategic housing renewal scheme at Woodside.
Together they will create more than 5,000 new homes in the area and are part of the 271 affordable homes committed in the Shropshire region which English Partnerships has already started on site during 2005-2006.