Daws Hill

Scheme summary

• Land owned by the MOD (a former RAF base)who initially wanted to develop the site themselves, but later sold onto Taylor Wimpey
• 2014 full planning permission was granted for the demolition of the existing military buildings – Mixed use development of 441 dwellings, a retail unit, community centre, 9 industrial units, business hub and air training corps building
• Also to include primary school, pre-school, drop off area, open space and play areas
• Located close to the town centre on a site with major landscaping considerations and a large number of trees
• Huge number of complaints from local residents regarding the scheme to be addressed
• Taylor Wimpey developer chose a variation to the standard housing with 4 different designs of housing used to create an exemplary development

Successful design elements

• The site posed major challenges with the landscape and developer managed to keep all of the trees and built around them, with key considerations to light and sunshine
• The developers worked very closely with the Local Authority to deliver this large site

Lessons Learnt

• The site is not yet finished and time will tell if the mix of housing types works well as a combination and is a desirable place to live
• Community involvement was important due to the high degree of public interest and helped to shape the development and its amenities
• WDC lack of confidence in Taylor Wimpey which lead to much detailed planning guidance for the site and need to produce a development brief was essential