Plans submitted for 47 home development

A planning application has been submitted to create 47 new homes on a site just north of the town of Milnrow, Rochdale.

Designed for Lancet Homes, the scheme aims to create a high-quality new community that works with, and responds sensitively to, the site’s rural setting.

To achieve this, the scheme’s layout has been informed by a nearby cluster of farm buildings, with the new homes grouped into ‘character areas’ that feature open-ended courtyards offering views out to the surrounding countryside. Taking further reference from the landscape, the homes have been planned to follow the line of the existing contours of the site and each home is designed to respond to the landform.

Within the development, homes of different scales have been proposed ranging from five bedroom family houses to two bedroom bungalows to encourage the creation of a vibrant, multi-generational community.

The architecture of the homes takes precedent from the local vernacular in materiality and form. The gabled shape of a historic farmhouse adjacent to the site has influenced the homes’ form while long horizontal stone patterns found in the farmhouse’s coursing have informed choice of a linear brick material for the new homes.

A strong sustainability agenda also sits at the heart of the design. Each home features high airtightness values to reduce carbon use, large windows to reduce the need for artificial lighting and have been orientated to avoid overheating. Air Source heat pumps will be used to reduce carbon consumption and each home will also have an electric car charging point.

Key to the landscape concept is the creation of a large area of natural public open space to the eastern edge of the development. To activate the space, recreational routes for walking, jogging and dog walking have been provided alongside a series of informal mowed footpaths will provide longer journeys through the wildflower meadow grassland.