In this community led development, we have so-far submitted a pre-application for 6 affordable houses in Gittisham in Devon while receiving positive feedback from the community.
We justified the affordable houses as part of a rural exception site: houses to accommodate housing shortages. We explained that it has suitable close services and will be sustainable development.
One challenge was access and visibility. We solved visibility by placing access in the centre of the site which is both convenient and does not obstruct site lines. Another challenge was drainage. We solved this by proposing a attenuation garden at the centre of the site.
We worked with the architecture team to produce a design sensitive to community demands and are continuing to work with the community throughout the design process.
We documented the community process prior to ECA involvement and will soon submit a full planning application.
