Members of South Gloucestershire Council made a site visit to see work start on a major new housing development which will create 70 much-needed new homes.
Demand is expected to be high for the homes being delivered by Sovereign Living, a leading provider of homes for sale and built by Bristol-based housing specialists Mi-space, part of the Midas Group, on the site of the former Mount Pleasant Farm, in Longwell Green.
Sovereign Living, which is a non-charitable part of Sovereign the largest housing association in the south and south-west of England, acquired the former dairy farm in January 2010.
Following negotiations with the local council, the housing provider secured planning consent to develop the residential scheme on 4.5 acres of the 68 acre site. The scheme will include 42 homes for sale, as well as a number of shared ownership and rental homes.
Once completed the multi-million pound scheme will be named Hoopers Walk after the former residents of the farm, the Hooper family. The family has farmed the land for over 100 years, and is pleased to see it being used for new homes which they hope will house families who can enjoy the area as much as they have.
As part of the ground-breaking a time capsule was buried on the site of a former well containing items such as photographs, a short history of the farm, press coverage from the day and plans.
Hoopers Walk will be developed over a number of phases during the next two years, eventually providing a mix of homes for sale and shared ownership and for rent.
Mr John Hooper, 85, was on site to witness the time capsule being buried, and brought with him a picture of a World War II plane that had crashed on the farm in 1935: “The plane came down during a training flight, thankfully the pilot parachuted out and survived. It’s great to see the farm being developed now, providing lots of new homes for people, it’s progress isn’t it?”
South Gloucestershire Council’s Adults, Housing and Public Health lead member Cllr Ben Stokes, said: “I’m delighted to see work has started on this new scheme at Mount Pleasant Farm in Longwell Green. Once complete, this development will provide a range of affordable housing units for families in South Gloucestershire.
“The affordable housing units will be built to meet a number of design standards. This means that in the future, the homes can be adapted to meet the individual needs of the residents to allow people to stay in their own home for longer should their needs change. For example, the homes are designed so that a through-floor lift could be installed to help an individual move with ease from one floor to the other.”
Jake Rigby, Commercial Development Manager, Sovereign, said: “We’re delighted to be working with partners Mi-space and South Glos Council on this unique new development on former brownfield land.
“We’re committed to providing new homes for sale, shared ownership and rent to meet local housing need. Mount Pleasant Farm will provide 70 much needed, high quality homes which will be available from Autumn 2017.”
Rob Bradley, is Executive Director for Mi-space, which is part of the Midas Group, one of the largest independent construction firms in the UK. He said: “We are committed to creating and investing in the communities which we work in. As a South West company based in Bristol, we are delighted to be the contractor of choice for this project and to be delivering a really significant affordable housing scheme for the people in this area.”
