Last year Lafarge Tarmac were given planning permission to build 8 homes along Sacombe Road, details of which can be found here. We have been given an update on how progress is going.
The project has a new name, The Waterford Wick, which replaces the original “Land adjoining Sacombe Road”.
The review of the implications of moving from the original sustainability and living standards of Code Level 6, to the new industry standard, Home Quality Mark (HQM) (for which the highest rating is 5*) is almost complete.
New government standards and targets – particularly the Nationally Described Space Standards have needed to be accommodated. These advocate – among other things – higher living space standards. In addition consideration has to be given to the encouragement from central government for the new Modern Methods of Construction – with their focus on innovative approaches to delivering new sustainable homes – including using off site manufacturing.
Rather than trying to accommodate these fundamental changes in a series of amendments to the existing planning consent, Lafarge think it is cleaner – and more appropriate – to submit a new application which covers/incorporates all these new standards.
The original objectives of an exemplar housing project, designed for low impact living, in a low density development of eight properties with the same split of dwellings 4 x 2 beds, 2 x 3 beds, 2 x 4 beds is still expected to be met by Lafarge.