Chesterton selected for flagship new Sustainability Certification

Published on 6 December 2017

Land at Chesterton, JTP’s project for BDL in Cirencester, has been selected as one of five ‘early adopters’ of the Building with Nature certification mark, a new certification initiative which aims to recognise exemplar green infrastructure.

Building with Nature was developed by Gloucester Wildlife Trust and the University of the West of England’s Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments.

The initiative aims to support those involved in the creation of places to deliver high quality green infrastructure features integrated within the proposals, covering three key themes – wildlife, water and wellbeing – through features such as parks, play areas, trees and allotments, as well as rivers, ponds and other water features. It also creates a benchmark by which to design new neighbourhoods, and ensures maintenance is a key consideration from the outset of a project.

Chesterton will become an exemplar mixed use neighbourhood, providing 2,350 homes in a range of types, sizes and tenures. These will adjoin a total of 22 acres of employment space, expected to generate in excess of 1,600 jobs, and have at their heart a Neighbourhood Centre including various community uses, shops and a primary school.

A network of green, planted and open spaces extending to over 100 acres forms the framework of green infrastructure within which the whole new development will sit. This will be multi-functional and has been designed to address multiple recreational, environmental and ecological considerations.

The housing will also incorporate a range of features designed to bring nature into the new community, including bird boxes at each home, a community allotment area and a new network of pedestrian routes and cycle paths linking to the town centre, to encourage active lifestyles. Sustainable drainage systems will help to manage surface water run off while creating new habitats for wildlife.

“

This is the most significant development site in the Cotswolds and we are delighted that our proposals for a new mixed-use neighbourhood have been recognised by Building for Nature for their commitment to long-term sustainability. We have sought to create a place where the new and existing community at Chesterton can co-exist with nature and wildlife - in an environment fundamentally enriched by its change of use from farmland.

Graeme Phillips, JTP Partner

The project has been awarded Building for Nature “candidate status” at its current pre-construction stage, and this recognition will enable the neighbourhood to be promoted as certified once complete.

For more information on Land at Chesterton please click here.

Related Projects

Chesterton,
Cirencester, UK

Settlement Extension
Stage: Outline Planning Consent