Technical Group
Possible sites
The original Affordable Housing Group (TAHG) looked at eleven possible sites; these were chosen because they were adjacent to, but outside, the development boundary of the village. There is provision within the MDDC Local Plan to allow development in such locations as an “exception” to normal Local Plan policy in the case of affordable housing. The sites are shown below:
Two members of the group toured the sites with the MDDC Housing Enabling and Forward Planning Officer and the Conservation Officer, and informal advice on each of the sites was subsequently given. As soon as the new Technical Site Procurement Group was established it carried out an evaluation of all of the eleven sites, and produced an initial “Site Evaluation Matrix”.
The Matrix scored each site between 1 for poor and 5 for excellent on the basis of the following aspects:
- Owner Agreement
- Size
- Access
- Utilities
- Environment
- Planning Positivity
The Matrix identifies two sites, which face opposite each other in Silver Street, in the eastern part of the village, as clearly having the highest scores. They also happen to be the only two of the eleven where the site owners, The Church Commissioners (CC), are willing to consider selling the land. The Archbishop of Canterbury commissioned a report looking into the CC making some of their land available for Affordable Housing projects; this report, titled Coming Home, was published in 2021. Click on the image below to read all 126 pages.
Initial discussions have been held with the Church Commissioners [CC] by the Steering Group. There is to be a Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] to be signed by both parties, which will give the Steering Group a period of exclusivity for six months to collaborate and agree terms for the sale and purchase of the land.
The map below shows the land under discussion at this stage:
The next step is for the TSP Group to investigate fully the viability of the two sites, including Topographical and Infrastructure Services Surveys, and based on the results of this, to agree terms with the CC.
Alongside this the TSP Group is also considering how to make provision for the various tenures of housing that were identified in the Housing Needs Survey, including Low Cost Rented, Discounted Market Ownership and possibly even Self Build Homes.
The drawing below represents an architect’s impression of what may be possible when building on these sites. Note that both can be accessed without needing to travel through the village:
The site on the northern side of Silver Street is gently sloping and is elevated above the level of the highway. The site is not prominent when entering the village from the east. Here there could be a frontage facing towards the street picking up the building lines of adjacent development which could be stepped to create a point of entry into the scheme. The space between the houses and the road could be landscaped and planted.
Due to its rectangular shape, it should be possible to create an attractive layout, possibly comprising of a street leading to an informal landscaped courtyard, with most of the parking out of view behind the blocks of dwellings. It is worth noting that being on the northern side of Silver Street, a lot of the gardens and some living spaces may be north-facing, which is not ideal; in addition, the land is steeply sloping, and there is an electrical transformer on the site.
The site on the southern side of Silver Street is gently sloping and enjoys a pleasant, south-facing aspect, towards the brook and rising landscape beyond. A development here would be one of the first things to be seen upon entering Thorverton. It would therefore be important for it to provide an attractive introduction to the village. Instead of continuing the prevailing pattern of ribbon development, a scheme here might introduce a more informal character, placing groups of dwellings within a landscaped and planted setting.
Climbing up the hill from Hulk Lane, the eye could be drawn towards an east facing group, possibly incorporating a corner element. Just beyond this, the dwellings could be placed at an oblique angle to the road, forming a widening green wedge interspersed with trees. This view could then be punctuated by a group set at right angles, signalling the point of entry into the scheme and the start of a green corridor through the site, within which a new footpath link to the Millennium Green could be located: this would form a pleasant physical link through to the village. The margin of land between the housing and the stream could become wild flower meadows, providing habitat and ecological enhancements.
Parking could be concealed from the street and, on this site, most of the gardens and principal rooms could be south facing.
The homes need to have excellent environmental credentials and be highly energy efficient and functional, but they also need to be inspirational, great to live in, and the scheme needs to encourage a strong sense of community.