A ‘ground breaking’ ceremony to mark the start of the first phase of a £250m 1,500 housing development has taken place.
The ceremony, which included representatives from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Doncaster Borough Council, housing and regeneration specialists Keepmoat Homes, Strata and The Guinness Partnership, was held at Carr Lodge in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
David Curtis, Executive Director at the HCA and Dave Sheridan, Keepmoat’s CEO was joined by other company representatives to ‘cut the sod’ to mark the start of the first phase of the project, which will see the construction of 329 new homes. 172 homes will be developed by Keepmoat Homes, with a further 132 larger homes delivered in partnership with Strata Homes, along with 25 Custom Build plots being built by Fairgrove Homes. The joint development name for the scheme is known as ‘Dominion’.
The £45m phase one development will see a mix of home ownership options including the construction of 241 homes for sale, 66 homes for affordable rent and 22 homes available to buy on a shared ownership basis, ensuring that these homes are available for local people. All homes will be designed to the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes level 3 and Lifetime Homes standards.
The development will include 25 Custom Build plots as part of the Custom Build programme, which is a Government backed initiative to encourage individuals to build their own homes, by making £30m in loans available to support projects.
Plans for the first phase of the development, which was brought forward via the HCA’s Accelerated Land Delivery programme, were approved by the Council earlier this year and a new single carriageway spine road, funded by the HCA was completed in June.
The new road, Woodfield Way, links the A60 Tickhill Road with the A6182 White Rose Way; providing access to the Carr Lodge housing site, Tesco supermarket at Woodfield Plantation, the Holiday Inn Express, the new Morrisons supermarket and the new White Rose Way Park and Ride site just off White Rose Way.
David Curtis, Executive Director at the Homes and Communities Agency, said: “It is fantastic that the HCA has been able to ensure that new homes will be built by releasing public land and building the link road. The development starting today will protect and create jobs, and create a high quality, sustainable mixed community. The partners are offering opportunities for new homes for everyone in these times of housing difficulty helping to ensure that there will be homes to buy, rent or even build yourself.”
Dave Sheridan, CEO for Keepmoat, said: “As a national company with a head office located in Doncaster, we are delighted to see work commence on these high quality, affordable new homes. This is another major milestone in the development of Carr Lodge which will not only provide high quality new homes for local people but it will also help transform this part of the town into a thriving new community for people to live and work. There will be a mix of house types and styles that will appeal to many first time buyers and families and we will soon be opening a sales office for people to view plans and find out more information.”
Councillor Glyn Jones, Deputy Mayor of Doncaster Council and Cabinet Member for Housing, said: "We are delighted that work is to start on the Carr Lodge site. This is a great location for homes which are vitally needed in Doncaster to address a growing population in the town and help plug the housing shortage gap.
“We need to ensure that new developments are providing the right type of homes and the Carr Lodge development will do just that - they will be affordable and with all the features you would expect in modern homes - and with local amenities close by."
Jim Wren, Chief Executive of Strata, said: “We are particularly pleased to be developing in Doncaster, our home town and to be selling new family homes to local people. Together with our partners we will be creating a fresh, vibrant environment that will become a much sought after place to live.
“We have been eagerly anticipating this start to the site and are genuinely excited about playing our part in the future of Carr Lodge”.
Paul Roberts, Managing Director at Guinness Northern Counties commented: “Guinness Northern Counties, a member of The Guinness Partnership, are excited to have been selected as a partner on an ambitious £6.6m investment programme at Dominion, delivering 88 much needed affordable homes for the residents of Doncaster. The design and housing standards are outstanding and together with the wider regeneration proposals this will be a popular new community for Doncaster and its residents”.
Following on from phase one, a new main street and village square incorporating shops and a community hall will also be developed, with other community facilities such as a children’s nursery, a primary school, youth club, sports pitches, play areas and a linear park also included in the plans.
This first phase of the development is expected to take three years to build and when complete, Carr Lodge will include a network of high-quality green routes, which have been designed to encourage walking and cycling and provide connections to local facilities.
