13 Aug Garden Village in North Northamptonshire?
The Government has prepared a report to promote and support Garden Villages (Locally-Led Garden Villages, Towns and Cities, March 2016). In it there is the following statement:
“We are supporting a new wave of garden cities, towns, villages and communities in Bicester, Basingstoke, Didcot, Ebbsfleet, North Essex and North Northamptonshire. Together, these have the potential to deliver over 100,000 homes with strong communities at their heart.”
The interesting bit for me is the one proposed, and apparently already supported, for North Northamptonshire. It is to be located on Deenethorpe airfield and it would be good to be involved as there are very few architects in the area.
Having designed a number of housing estates and resort villages over the years, I want to know how to get involved. The many ‘country estates’ in the North of the County are in a prime position to benefit from new ‘estate villages’ that could meet the criteria for government assistance and funding.
Based on the following quote from the report:
“Good design is essential if we are to create sustainable places where people want to live and be part of the local community. It will be important for expressions of interest to demonstrate how the garden village, will be well-designed, built to a high quality, and attractive. Use of qualitative and quantitative research on local public opinion will be welcomed on issues around design and community.”
and speaking as the president of the Northamptonshire Society of Architects, the local branch of the RIBA, the profession can have a pivotal role in ensuring the best architectural designs are proposed, promoted, procured and built. The area also has acres of brownfield land that could be utilised.
If anyone out there knows more and is interested in preparing an ‘expression of interest’ for other sites in the County let me know. Using BIM Level 2 as prescribed by the Government is going to be a vital part of any bid.