Fareham Borough Council’s planning committee has approved the construction of the first tranche of homes at Welborne.
The first 363 homes, which will form part of the Chesterfield and Dashwood neighbourhoods, will range from one to five bedrooms, including apartments, terraced houses, semi-detached and detached properties. These initial houses will be built by Welborne’s house build partners – Thakeham (Chesterfield) and Pye Homes (Dashwood).
Developer Buckland Group is planning a garden village of 6,000 new homes on farmland across the M27 from Fareham.
Buckland has formed a joint venture with three house-builders, enabling the construction to follow a single design code and street manual to avoid the typical boxy estates that developers usually throw up.
The Chesterfield neighbourhood homes (pictured below) will be designed in the Hampshire Formal and Hampshire Vernacular styles while the Dashwood neighbourhood (pictured above) will be in the Garden City – Arts & Crafts and Garden City – Queen Anne styles, as set out in the neighbourhood and strategic design codes.
Buckland Group chairman Mark Thistlethwayte said: “After almost two decades in planning, I am delighted that the first homes will be built at Welborne this year and we hope to welcome our first residents this winter.
“We have a different development approach compared with mainstream companies. By forming joint ventures, we can work with smaller house-builders who share our focus on quality craftsmanship and work to the same design code, meaning Welborne’s neighbourhoods will be beautifully designed and built, in keeping with the local area, and green space will be prevalent throughout.
“We are looking forward to working closely with Pye Homes and Thakeham and expect a third planning application from our joint venture with CG Fry to go ahead in the coming weeks.”
Fareham Borough Council leader Seán Woodward claimed some credit for himself. “I proposed the building of the new community now known as Welborne Garden Village two decades ago,” he said. “I am delighted that the vision of Buckland and Fareham Borough Council for an amazing 21st century community in a very high-quality environment that will be green in every sense of the word will now see the first homes provided for local residents.”
During the first construction phase, a village centre will be built in the Chesterfield neighbourhood with amenities including a primary school, a doctors’ surgery, a nursery, a pub/hotel, cafes, shops and sports facilities. A planning application for the village centre was submitted last month with resolution anticipated this summer.
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