Benefits
The new development will consist entirely of energy-efficient family homes with gardens with a mix of 2, 3, 4 and 5 bedroom houses to meet a wide range of existing housing needs in the north Wealden district.
Up to 30 per cent of the new homes will be affordable homes. Within a total of up to 170 houses, that would mean 51 affordable homes for local young families, key workers and other qualifying occupiers. These will be a mix of tenure ranging from market rent to shared ownership, allowing young local families a foot on the housing ladder without needing to move away from the community. At a time when there are no more government housing grants for local authorities, this will mean financially accessible new homes which will not otherwise be available within the village.
The development as proposed will allow the recreation ground to be expanded, with local people and clubs to decide how to use the extra land. Almost 12 acres of open meadow land will become available as a permanent addition to the village’s resources – for leisure and recreation, and as wildlife habitat, with a central pond, and as a green buffer to the bypass. Everyone will have a right of access and be able to reach the land via extra footpaths and cycleways created through the new development.
Approximately £2 million of funding will become available for education, traffic and transport, and other needs, much of it to be spent on local infrastructure. This provision is proportionately much greater from such a comprehensive scheme than would result from small piecemeal developments.
But new funding does not stop there. As part of the government’s new incentives to local communities to accept development, the project is estimated to provide £1.7 million to match-fund the council tax raised by the new homes over six years. This is a massive windfall and it is designed to be spent on local priorities.
As well as the large open space and the paths and cycle tracks to it, new resources for use by the whole Maresfield community will include a large area of fertile, well-drained allotments to meet existing and future demand, and a recycling facility to help all residents of the village to participate easily in recycling.
A trust organisation will be set up for residents of the development to decide and manage many of their own affairs, independently but in harmony with the whole village and its institutions.
The design of the new development is vital to its successful integration within Maresfield. It will be high in quality, low in density. While adopting energy-efficient technology, it will use the styles and materials typical of the area, as well as showing the variation in house types, elevations and how they are arranged that is characteristic of a village that has grown organically over time.
Up to 30 per cent of the new homes will be affordable homes. Within a total of up to 170 houses, that would mean 51 affordable homes for local young families, key workers and other qualifying occupiers. These will be a mix of tenure ranging from market rent to shared ownership, allowing young local families a foot on the housing ladder without needing to move away from the community. At a time when there are no more government housing grants for local authorities, this will mean financially accessible new homes which will not otherwise be available within the village.
The development as proposed will allow the recreation ground to be expanded, with local people and clubs to decide how to use the extra land. Almost 12 acres of open meadow land will become available as a permanent addition to the village’s resources – for leisure and recreation, and as wildlife habitat, with a central pond, and as a green buffer to the bypass. Everyone will have a right of access and be able to reach the land via extra footpaths and cycleways created through the new development.
Approximately £2 million of funding will become available for education, traffic and transport, and other needs, much of it to be spent on local infrastructure. This provision is proportionately much greater from such a comprehensive scheme than would result from small piecemeal developments.
But new funding does not stop there. As part of the government’s new incentives to local communities to accept development, the project is estimated to provide £1.7 million to match-fund the council tax raised by the new homes over six years. This is a massive windfall and it is designed to be spent on local priorities.
As well as the large open space and the paths and cycle tracks to it, new resources for use by the whole Maresfield community will include a large area of fertile, well-drained allotments to meet existing and future demand, and a recycling facility to help all residents of the village to participate easily in recycling.
A trust organisation will be set up for residents of the development to decide and manage many of their own affairs, independently but in harmony with the whole village and its institutions.
The design of the new development is vital to its successful integration within Maresfield. It will be high in quality, low in density. While adopting energy-efficient technology, it will use the styles and materials typical of the area, as well as showing the variation in house types, elevations and how they are arranged that is characteristic of a village that has grown organically over time.
