First Phase - Planning application submitted for ex-Army homes
Posted: Aug 12, 2009
Planning application for detailed consent for a major £12.5m refurbishment of dozens of high quality affordable homes on former Army land in Colchester has now been submitted to Colchester Council.
East Anglian developers Iceni Homes has submitted a planning application to refurbish and upgrade a range of 83 properties on Oakapple Close, Colchester, an unoccupied Ministry of Defence site.
Iceni Homes is the development arm of Colne Housing Society in Colchester, Suffolk Housing Society in Bury St Edmunds and Hundred Houses in Cambridgeshire. The Oakapple Close homes will be managed through Colchester-based Colne Housing.
This significant development marks another key phase in Iceni's rapid growth as the Oakapple Close scheme will be one of Colne Housing's largest in Colchester.
Work is being undertaken with a view to commencing refurbishment of the 83 home this Autumn.
The range of homes will be available at affordable rents through Colchester Council's Choice-Based Lettings Scheme.
The funding package for Phase One of the Oakapple Close site is now in place after Colchester Council stepped in to bridge the funding gap between the cost of the homes and the £ 12.1 million cash made available through Iceni Homes, the Key Communities Consortium in the eastern region and The Homes and Communities Agency.
A full public consultation period will begin next month (September) on a potential Phase Two development at the same site, although this second proposal has not yet secured funding and no planning application has yet been submitted.
If both funding and planning permission for Phase Two can be achieved, the proposal is to extend the housing provision on Oakapple Close from the present stock of 83 homes up to a total of 135 homes.
Local residents and other interested parties in the Oakapple Close neighbourhood will be invited to view and to discuss the plans at a public meeting which is scheduled for Wednesday 9 September from 4.30pm to 8pm at the Musket Club Fallowfield Road, Colchester Essex CO2 9ND . The car park will be the Londis shop car park
Iceni Home's Regional director, Steve Heywood, said: “Everyone involved in this exciting development welcomes views from the community on a proposed scheme for Phase Two at Oakapple Close.
"If achieved, the Phase Two development could provide a number of new and attractive affordable homes on the site, in addition to the refurbished homes, all of which would then be available for local people.
"We are committed to meeting the housing needs of the local community; all the new homes on this proposed development would be addressing a proven local housing need and enhancing the well-being of many families and single people in the wider community who may not be able to get on to the housing ladder.
"Any new homes on this site would increase local choice and supply of much-needed housing and the scheme will be designed in close consultation with the Housing Department at the Local Authority.
"Iceni is anticipating an on-going dialogue with the public and in particular with people who may be affected directly by our proposals to ensure local opinion regarding our plans becomes an integral part of what we are doing.
Phase One of the Oakapple Close development was achieved after MoD homes specialist Annington Homes received transfer of eighty three houses from the MoD in February
They put the homes up for sale and the vital multi-million-pound funding to refurbish the homes was achieved through a last-minute intervention by Colchester Council
Colne Housing Chief Executive Mark Powell Davies said: "The Oakapple Close scheme is an exceptional opportunity for Colne Housing to enhance its outstanding track record for excellence in delivering new developments.
"We are delighted Colchester Council stepped in to enable us to move ahead with this scheme, one of the largest Colne Housing will have ever delivered in the Colchester area.
"There is a great need for affordable houses in Colchester. There are many flats however the demand for 2-3 bedroom houses is greater because there are more practical for families. The area itself is in need for development, and the council saw that opportunity."
