When out walking recently, I remarked to my wife that the site seemed ripe for redevelopment.
In my mind’s eye, there might be a central strip of terraced houses, looking onto a village pond; then round the corner, a few semi-detached homes and the odd detached villa – each with a garden to suit the size of the dwelling.
This sounds like a nostalgist’s dream, but design needn’t be mock Edwardian – I can envisage innovation just as easily as 18th-century pastoralism.
Housebuilding is high on the Government’s priority list. And the Prime Minister must have been thrilled at a new survey, which suggests that – contrary to popular perception – only one in four of us are Nimbys [an acronym for not in my backyard] when it comes to new homes. (Certainly, that will have pleased him more than the finding that just 21 per cent of respondents think Labour are doing a good job on housing policy.)
If most of us are perfectly prepared to accept that Britain needs more homes, it isn’t unreasonable to ask questions about what kind of houses we want, as well as what level of services are required to go with them.
At least there might be some variety in brick colour these days, and the odd bit of greenery, but too often, new developments are dismal-looking.
Reforms set to be announced this week by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, are expected to give a boost to small and medium-sized construction firms, which in turn may lead to more diverse building schemes.
It might even help to tackle our mental health epidemic and go some way to boosting Britain’s sluggish productivity.
Go and visit newer parts of south-west Cambridge, for instance, where smart, modern design has been brought to bear effectively on a city steeped in history.
As for the farm near my house, it appears I must be some sort of planning Nostradamus because I now discover the site is indeed set to be turned over to housing.
I don’t see a village pond in the plan drawings, nor evidence of a local shop. But the developer claims it “will create and inspire a vibrant community, through a sensitively designed scheme that includes new and affordable homes for local residents, barn-inspired structures and open green spaces.”
The kind of place that could be beautiful, and that might even soften the hearts of resolute Nimbys – if, of course, the reality of the development lives up to its billing.
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