36 PROJECT REPORT
that Cameron Homes is serving here. For example, bathrooms have a choice of Porcelanosa tiling, ensuites come with double rain showers, and homes have downstairs guest cloakrooms. The kitchens have laminate or stone work surfaces, depending on the home type, Neff or Zanussi appliances, and a separate utility area. And, backing up Cameron Homes’ claim to build to “exacting standards,” with “premium materials”, all homes have a 10 year warranty.
GARDENS & LANDSCAPING Despite the site being long and thin, says Paul Morrissey, “because they’re quite wide plots, they didn’t feel that tight.” The planners required an acoustic treatment due to the railway noise, so there’s a substantial 3.2 metre acoustic timber and steel fence all the way along the railway boundary. Because this was semi-retaining, says Morrissey, it enabled the developers to elevate the gardens by around a metre to provide level external spaces for residents, rather than sloping down to the railway embankment. further benefit was that the fence’s visible height was reduced (in combination with the homes’ height being set due to avoiding flood risk, so the view of the nature reserve behind was not as impeded as it could have been. The homes needed to follow the line of the existing houses, but a further planning requirement was that people would be able to turn cars on the drives, so on the larger units they had to incorporate turning heads. “It worked out really well, the customers love it because they have
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private drives with enough space to turn.” There’s an additional new low wall all the way along Long Lane, and hedging and planting behind.
Due to the linear nature of the site, constrained by the railway, it wasn’t possible to deliver the range of natural SuDS features for achieving surface water management that Cameron Homes has managed to provide at other, larger sites like Breedon On the Hill near Derby. Paul Morrissey sums up the challenge: “Natural SuDS features look great, but they take up a lot of room.”
The new homes are linked to the nature reserve thanks to a retained pedestrian passageway beneath the railway, meaning that owners have the best of both worlds. This is a highly connected urban location (the train station is close by), but residents also have access to some very beautiful natural parkland.
CONCLUSION
As operations manager on this highly successful project, Paul Morrissey pays tribute to the close working between site manager Jeremy Goodwin and sale negotiator Tracey Sawbridge: “They were really joined up and worked together to bring this through.”
Being a linear scheme, Morrissey admits Chaucer Mews offered an unusual challenge to the firm, however he says that its smooth progress has meant they “won’t be afraid of doing more.” These might be high-quality homes without the full set of eco ‘bells and whistles,’ but the overall impact is a transformation of this location. The project’s 100% customer satisfaction score is the ultimate proof.
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