Set within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the masterplan at Woodgate, Pease Pottage was the largest project nationally to be granted planning approval in an AONB at its time in 2016.

The neighbourhood features 619 dwellings, a 48-bed care facility, a primary school, community building, café and retail space. A Community Shop is a hub of local life, owned and run by the people who live there and set up with support from Plunkett Foundation. The shop is staffed by a mix of employees and volunteers, with all money reinvested into the community. It is a model that creates jobs, builds connections, and supports local producers. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Planning editor Richard Garlick commented, “It is great to be able to highlight a large housing development where essential supporting infrastructure was delivered as the first homes were being handed over, rather than years after the last resident moved in.”

Responding sensitively to the Sussex countryside, Woodgate enhances key landscape features such as woodland, fields and ponds. Homes are thoughtfully integrated into the existing landscape and connected to the network of surrounding wildlife corridors, supporting learning, sports, leisure, relaxation, connectivity and play. One of the judges commented that Woodgate was “a great example of how a good scheme can not only fit in with a beautiful area, but also enhance the lives of the people living in and around the new homes”.

The Village Green is the central heart of the new community offering opportunities for informal meetings or organised community events. The new building for St Catherine’s Hospice is located there forming an active part of the neighbourhood on one side, but also benefitting from more secluded gardens with beautiful views on the other.

The new homes draw inspiration from buildings in the local area, reinterpreting traditional forms and materials but introducing elements of contemporary detailing to create buildings with distinct character. The innovative Villas on the Green utilise an upside-down living arrangement and feature generous roof terraces and flowing, open-plan living/kitchen/dining spaces with vaulted ceilings, which are flooded with light from generous fully glazed gable ends. The material palette features red, cream, and blue bricks, tile hanging and small elements of white timber boarding to reflect the predominant building material of Mid-Sussex and create a familiar, yet characterful street scene.

“It is fantastic to see this new neighbourhood gaining the recognition it deserves which is a real testament to Thakeham’s vision and their commitment to the creation of something much more than just another housing development. JTP has really enjoyed collaborating with Thakeham and all the other consultants who have been involved over the years to deliver this exemplar piece of placemaking and, more importantly, a thriving new community.”

– Andrew Dobson, Associate Director at JTP