Cambridge Investment Partnership has started work on site to deliver 67 new council homes at Colville Road, Cambridge.
The development replaces two housing blocks containing 24 post-war ageing council homes with a much larger housing scheme and improved landscaping to help meet the housing need in the city.
Cllr Richard Johnson, Executive Councillor for Housing at Cambridge City Council and CIP board member commented: “As a partnership we are pushing forward, and exceeding, our target to deliver at least 500 brand new council homes by March 2022. So far we have achieved planning permission for 598 new council homes as well as 316 private sale homes. We are delighted to start on our 12th project at Colville Road to deliver much needed homes for local residents.”
The design of Colville Road is a result of consultation with the local community and will feature a variety of houses and apartments. Landscaping will also be used to create areas of play, communal gardens and routes through the site with generous flowerbeds and tree planting to minimise the visual impact of car parking.
Tom Hill, Regional Director for Hill said: “The homes at Colville Road have been designed in accordance with the Cambridge Sustainable Housing Design Guide and will bring the site up to date, delivering high quality brand new council homes which are in keeping with the local neighbourhood.”
The homes will be gas free — five years ahead of Government legislation — and include energy saving features such as wider cavity walls filled with denser insulation to reduce heat loss and energy bills; Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery which reduces the energy demand of the properties and carbon emissions; Communal Air Source Heat Pumps will serve the apartments with photovoltaic panels to offset the electricity used to power the heat pumps; green roofs; electric vehicle charging points, together with sustainable urban drainage system.
Cambridge Investment Partnership has already been working closely with Colville Primary School providing buddy shelters and mud kitchens for their playground, branded stationery and construction dressing up items and toys including hard hats, hi vis and toy tools to form part of the early years construction role play. The children have also been creative and designed some really colourful posters focusing on how to stay safe on a building site.
A number of trees that were removed from the existing landscaping on site, prior to demolition, have also been replanted at the school with the site team and year six pupils.
Header image shows a CGI of Colville Road, which will provide a mixture of council homes and apartments in Cambridge.
