Ash Lane, Gunville
Affordable Homes for Locals
This project was devised by the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce in an effort to 'get the Island building again'. Its aims were to provide affordable homes for the people of Newport, to help bridge the Island's skills shortage by encouraging Apprenticeships and to help improve the Health and Safety Record of Island builders and reduce injury tolls by working with the Isle of Wight College and Chamber Construction Hub.
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Rainey Petrie Architecture have been involved from the inception of this idea, through both outline and subsequent reserved matters applications, Building Regulations packages and dealing with individuals who want to build their own homes.
Development scheme
The proposals included a mix of 17 Small Builder Homes, 18 Affordable Homes (representing 36% of the total provision) and 15 Self-Build Plots.
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Within these categories there was a mix of 17 x 3 Bed detached houses, chalet bungalows and bungalows, 10 x 3 Bed semi-detached houses, 3 terraces providing 6 x 3 Bed Homes and 5 x 2 Bed Homes, and 2 blocks of Flats with 4 x 2 Bed and 8 x 1 Bed Apartments.
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There was a significant area of publicly accessible open space provided, approximately 33% of the total site area.
The design code
The appearance of the units at Ash Lane was controlled by the Design Code, which provides guidance for Development Control in the determination of future Detail Planning Applications/Approval of Reserved Matters on individual or multiple plots.
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The Code looks in detail at the surrounding context of Gunville and concludes with a new, but complementary aesthetic for the development site.
The development will be managed by setting up a Community Trust of local Stakeholders to ensure the continuing good stewardship of the site and the on-going provision of housing for the residents of Newport and the Island.
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