NORTH Somerset Council has moved a step closer to delivering 425 new high-quality, highly sustainable, and affordable homes on land it owns in Weston-super-Mare.

A build lease agreement was signed last month (May 2023) by the council and its chosen developer Keepmoat to deliver the homes near Locking.

As part of the Parklands Village development, the scheme will be called ‘Winterstoke Gate’.

Keepmoat is required to build at least 85 homes a year and the scheme is expected to be fully complete by spring 2029.

Piling work has started and it is planned for the first homes to be habitable by spring 2024.

The project focuses on quality, sustainability, and the use of modern technologies.

The council’s development will deliver:

• 30 per cent affordable housing,
• 85 adaptable or accessible homes, which will provide for people with mobility difficulties, or for those who develop them during their lifetimes,
• 139 homes, around one-third of this development, will be zero carbon buildings with the remainder achieving 75 to 80 per cent reduction in carbon output, and
• electric vehicle charging to all homes.

The homes will be built using ‘Modern Methods of Construction’, which means they are built using off-site, precision-manufactured components to improve the efficiency and quality of the build process.

Keepmoat has made a number of significant social value commitments, including creating at least 20 apprenticeships, and funding local volunteering and biodiversity projects.

The council secured outline planning consent for 700 homes at Parklands Village in 2017.

This first phase of 425 homes has been assisted by a £9.8m grant from the Government’s Local Authority Accelerated Construction Fund administered by Homes England.

This money helped to pay for strategic utilities and early groundworks, as well as contributing to the North South Link Road which will be the main route through Parklands Village.

Councillor Mark Canniford, North Somerset Council’s executive member for spatial planning, placemaking, and economy, said: "It’s great to see the progress of this important development that we hope will set a new standard for housing in North Somerset.

“It’s important for local authorities to lead by example. This scheme demonstrates that it is possible to deliver large numbers of homes at the same time as securing quality and improved sustainability while delivering much-needed affordable housing for local people.

“By delivering on the council’s land, at an allocated site, we are helping to reduce pressure for speculative development at unplanned and less sustainable locations.”

Winterstoke Gate is located in North Somerset Council’s Locking ward where it has two representatives, Councillors Terry Porter and Mike Solomon.

They added: “We represent the people of Locking, Hutton and Bleadon where communities have existed for thousands of years.

“It’s vitally important for new housing development in the ward to be sympathetic in design with considered infrastructure in place, which we feel sure the Winterstoke Gate scheme will achieve.

“We’re also pleased to see progress on the new secondary school and health centre at the site, which North Somerset Council is delivering on behalf of partners, developers, and communities.”

Amanda Bishop, regional managing director at Keepmoat, said: “We’re delighted to be working with North Somerset Council to deliver 425 high-quality new, sustainable homes on the Parklands Village development.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to work in partnership with the council to create what will become a thriving new community.”

This is the first major residential project to be progressed by the council as part of its development strategy, adopted in February 2021.