BEFORE
AFTER
CONTAMINATED LAND It wasn’t long after purchasing the site that Rik and Matt discovered a major issue with the land. Just down the road there had been an old gunpowder factory. Built during the 1600s and still in production during the first world war, the factory’s pollution had infiltrated into the soil and caused significant contamination over the years. Finding this out early on was “stressful,” says Rik, “but instead of panicking, you’ve got to sit down and work out how to resolve it.” They submitted this to the local contaminated
land officer, “who was nice, but overly pessimistic about the contamination.” He gave them two choices – either install a membrane throughout the site, or the more drastic measure of stripping back the ground down to the virgin clay. While this option meant pushing back their schedule as well as adding costs, they decided it was something they had to do. “If this was going to be me living there with my family I wouldn’t want there to be any possibility of soil contamination, it’s enough to put anyone off,” says Rik. So they proceeded to remove all the contaminated soil, replacing it with clean subsoil.
PLANNING Rik and Matt’s goal was to create two “generously-sized,” desirable family homes, ones which Rik says, “I would be very happy to live in myself.” He adds: “I wanted to avoid it being just a 12-metre box for five people. A
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home should be a bonus in life, not just a place to live in.”
Rik used his architectural expertise, with help
from Matt, to draw up their first submitted plan. This was supported by both the planning officer and the head of planning. However, as a tree protection order (TPO) was in force on the neighbouring site, the design had to be checked by a tree preservation officer which again slowed the project down.
Although Rik believed he had addressed the TPO in the initial plan, the officer wasn’t happy with it as it stood, and at one point was going to refuse completely based on the root protection area required. Despite the pair's efforts to prove their design would not contravene the restrictions, the officer insisted the plans were redrawn. They worked alongside the officer on the
redesign however, and eventually both parties were satisfied. As a result, one of the homes is smaller than the other as a ‘setback’ was required in the rear extension. “We had to take this on the chin and move forward,” says Rik.
He advises anyone embarking on a new build to “get in touch with planners as early on as possible” to tackle such problems collaboratively. He adds: “It’s about having dialogue with them, working with them as much as possible. You’ve got to take a pragmatic view, and submit something that any rational person can look at and go ‘yes I can see that if we can
issue 02 2021
LOW POINT
“There wasn’t a low point as such, the fire was concerning, as you just think ‘I hope no one's hurt,’ but there was no real material loss.”
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