New Village In Surrey: Setting An Example For The South East

28 Feb 2006

Addressing affordable housing for the rural community

Dunsfold Park Limited, a joint venture company owned by The Rutland Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland, has unveiled three Masterplan options for the creation of a new village on Dunsfold Park, a 240 ha (600 acre) aerodrome near Guildford in Surrey. All the options, designed by architects Pollard Thomas Edwards, aim to be water, energy and waste neutral.

The proposed development would open up previously developed land for an expanded business district and around 2,500 new homes including a high percentage of affordable housing. Currently out to public consultation, each of the Masterplan options feature a primary school, health services and other local amenities, including leisure and recreation uses in 350 acres of open parkland, new lakes and waterways, footpaths and bridleways. The proposals also include a number of improvements to local transport including a direct link from the site to the A281 and new public transport links, as well as walking and cycling connections to surrounding villages.

Jim McAllister, Chief Executive for The Rutland Group, comments: "We set a challenge to the professional team - to create a model for sustainable development which would incorporate innovative environmental techniques to reduce energy and waste consumption whilst creating a quality of life that is less dependent on car use.

"Over 80% of working households in the local area are unable to afford housing in the lowest quartile of prices and as Dunsfold Park is one of the largest privately owned sites in Surrey, it provides us with a very real opportunity to reduce the unmet demand for affordable rural housing. We are looking to provide different types, sizes and tenures of homes, built to the highest environmental standard, to help meet local demand. Our objective is to ensure design is not just highly intelligent, efficient and functional but inspiring and in keeping with the Surrey vernacular," he continues.

The Masterplan options include a High Street Scheme, which treats the business and residential villages as separate entities with the main landscaped area lying between them. The Island Scheme transforms the three runways into canals, which enclose a car-free village core, connected to car parking via nine bridges. The Parkland Scheme would create a landscaped park with a serpentine lake as its centrepiece, inspired by the grand eighteenth century tradition of Capability Brown and his contemporaries.

Over 500 people visited a public exhibition of the Masterplan proposals for the new village earlier this month. Dunsfold Park Ltd is analysing the comments received and a Master Plan will be developed in the light of the feedback.. Further information on the masterplan options is available on www.dunsfoldpark.co.uk.