De Merke Estates
Little Paxton
Welcome
De Merke Estates owns a 50-acre site to the west of the village which it has submitted for inclusion in the local plan for development. This website provides you with details of the site and our initial thoughts, but we are seeking your involvement in developing our proposals.
We want to bring forward a development which not only meets local housing needs but is fully integrated into the village including elements and facilities the existing community want to see.
As such, we want to engage with you, the community of Little Paxton, as we move forward in conjunction with the local plan. This website will be at the core of that engagement.
You can register below to receive automatic updates, and if you have any questions, please contact our team on planning@chelgate.com or on 020 7939 7950.
About the site
The site is to the west of the village between the Great North Road and the A1. is just over 50 acres. It was acquired in 2008 by De Merke Estates and is currently leased to a local farmer for agricultural use.
Our vision
De Merke Estates is not a national volume housebuilder, so is not constrained by the limitations that bestows – we do not have house building targets or profit margins to be reached. We have far greater flexibility in what we can do.
Our ambition is to bring forward a new development that positions nature and people at the heart of placemaking. Our proposal emphasises the importance of integration between the natural environment, the surrounding landscape character, the existing built edges and the existing residents of Little Paxton. This is a proposal for all, not just new residents.
Key elements:
- The concept plan illustrates how the site could be designed, taking into consideration the characteristics of Little Paxton
- Up to 440 new homes built with a mix of houses, apartments and bungalows
- Policy compliant 40% affordable housing in a variety of tenures
- 20% biodiversity net gain through the creation of a robust landscape strategy that will retain existing site features
- A new local centre for Little Paxton
- New sports facilities and other community benefits
- Up to 6 hectares (15 acres/30% of the site) of walkable and accessible open space will be created, including play areas
- Sustainable development including solar, heat pumps and EV charging.
- The inclusion of a SuDS system to handle rainfall run off including attenuation ponds
- Various S106 contributions including towards health and education
- Transport mitigations
- Overall, a safe, sustainable, attractive space will be created.
Community involvement
We want to engage with the community from the outset, to ensure the issues and aspirations of residents have been carefully considered and included within our proposals. This will not be a one-off consultation to tick the box but will run throughout the design process, from promoting the site through the local plan to developing the master plan, and ultimately submitting a planning application.
De Merks Estates will not build the homes, but it will be involved throughout. A developer or developers will join the project team at some point during the process, but will have to adhere to all aspects of the proposals developed.
We are working in conjunction with the Huntingdonshire District Council local plan. The current local plan programme saw the Regulation 18 ‘issues and options’ consultation conclude on 27 November 2024. The next stage is the Regulation 18 ‘Preferred Options’ consultation, which is scheduled for later in 2025.
We have already started the consultation process by engaging with Little Paxton Parish Council and the ward councillors, and by creating this project website. This will be augmented by:
- Stakeholder Forum This will consist of various stakeholders including parish and ward councillors, other key stakeholders and members the community itself. It will be a continual interface between us and the community, enabling information dissemination and for us to make suggestions and receive feedback. Further information on this will be published here and with the parish council.
- Core research We will undertake independent market research in Little Paxton on a range of topics to ensure we have representative views from the community. Again, further information on this will be published here and with the parish council
- Next steps As the local plan and the project moves forward, we will expand the engagement to involve the wider community via exhibitions of proposals at various stages and inclusive workshops to help us evolve our proposals further. Please register below so you can be kept up to date on what we are doing.
Development team
The team we have assembled to create the vision for Little Paxton is amongst the best in the industry:
De Merke Estates
De Merke is a Company formed to purchase and hold agricultural investment land. We are not a national housebuilder so are not constrained by housebuilding targets or profit margins. We believe in building sustainable developments which fit and add value to the existing community.
Stantec
Communities are fundamental to us at Stantec. We believe they provide the foundation, a sense of place and belonging. That’s why we at Stantec, we always design with the community in mind. We’re planners, designers, engineers, scientists and project managers innovating together at the intersection of community, creativity and client relationships.
Fabrik
Fabrik is an award-winning master planning and landscape practice. Fabrik brings an innovative and design-led approach to projects and believe that places matter much more than individual buildings. They focus on the interaction between building and streets and so step back to look at what they are producing as a whole, embedding their designs within the nature and beauty of the place.
Velocity TP
Velocity specialises in providing Transport Planning support for the developments. Their staff have significant experience in supporting residential developments throughout the UK and identifying practical solutions to develop effective transport strategies. Velocity’s approach is underpinned by company values, which are to be ‘proactive’ and ‘innovative’. They are a forward-thinking and proactive consultancy who have the knowledge and ability to integrate the very latest design approaches.
Sharps Redmore
Sharps Redmore Partnering were formed in 1990 and have been providing acoustic services over 30 years for a wide range of clients. They are one of the largest acoustic consultancies in the UK. Their services range from architectural acoustics, engineering acoustics, planning assessments including residential developments. The track record of providing professional acoustic services means they can draw on considerable experience in relation to the application.
Chelgate Local
Established in 1988, Chelgate is one of the pioneers of political and community engagement. We initially worked in the leisure and nuclear industries but subsequently moved into residential, mixed and sustainable energy sectors. Chelgate Local is the dedicated local government public affairs division and has worked with all the leading housebuilders and developers, as well as various regeneration agencies and some council, on numerous projects around the country.
Register
Please register your email below for automatic updates on the site’s development.
Contact
For any further questions or enquiries please contact Caitlin at planning@chelgate.com or call on 020 7939 7950.