Community is at the heart of new Bertha Park village
Those on the lookout for a new home in Perth will be familiar with housebuilders Springfield Properties and their village Bertha Park, which once complete will include 3000 homes and “everything a community needs to thrive”.
The village, in a semi-rural location on the outskirts of Perth, was designed by Springfield Properties, one of Scotland’s largest housebuilders, in collaboration with Perth and Kinross Council – an approach that won Springfield a Scottish Award for Quality in Planning in 2017.
The vision for the village includes a range of homes, local amenities like schools, doctors, shops, restaurants and other business opportunities as well as community space to enjoy ranging from play parks, allotments and even an orchard.
It is now home to more than 250 people, Bertha Park High School, a destination play park and a local convenience store.
Springfield’s Group architectural director Mark Hamilton said: “The thing about Bertha Park that makes it stand out, is that it is a new village. We are creating a neighbourhood for a new community to flourish and thrive in. This kind of undertaking needs a different approach.
“The area is already full of spirit and character, offering fantastic natural assets including an ancient woodland and a loch.
“When designing Bertha Park, we wanted to embrace these qualities so residents can enjoy the rich variety of nature that is right on their doorstep.
“For a development of this scale, it was important to make areas and neighbourhoods unique and the diverse nature of surrounding towns and villages offered an element of freedom for the design at Bertha Park.
“We’ve designed the village to be a carefully constructed patchwork quilt made up of distinct areas that will, and are already, looking really good.
“And this includes more than housing. Of course, it’s important to include a variety of homes to suit a range a people, but it takes places for people to work and play to create a village.
“Retail and business opportunities are a key component to the makings of a village. Offering places for people to shop and work, within walking or cycling distance from their home, is a big part of the step from a traditional housing development to a new place.
“In the overall masterplan for Bertha Park, there are many opportunities for shops, restaurants, takeaways or cafes, new businesses and companies looking to expand.
“There is already a local convenience store open at Bertha Park and a number of the spaces are being considered for various ventures. As development of the village progresses, this will create the community hub, the heart of the village and the core that will attract a flurry of activity.
“Education is also often a fundamental element in the design and creation of a new place – where will the children go to school? This is predominately council driven depending on the capacity of schools in neighbouring villages. Demonstrating their commitment to the vision for Bertha Park, we were delighted that Perth and Kinross Council specifically selected the village as the location for the first purpose built secondary school in Scotland for 20 years.
“Community space is equally important. Given the semi-rural location and beautiful backdrop at Bertha Park, we wanted to carry open space and green areas for recreational activities throughout the village.
“In fact, around 60 per cent of the development is either open, green space or existing woodland. In the future we’ll be planting trees to create an orchard, offering allotments for residents within the community who may wish to grow vegetables or for those in apartments without gardens, delivering additional play parks and football pitches giving children somewhere to play and encouraging active, healthy lives.
“A vision of Bertha Park has been clear in mind for years – and now it’s a reality and home to so many people. It’s so great to visit the village and see the kids playing in the park. It’s even better to hear that the community are becoming established and organising events in the green spaces, supporting one another’s businesses and actively thinking of more ways to bring the people of Bertha Park together.
“You can create a village on paper, but the community, that’s up to the people who live there - and at Bertha Park, they’re doing an excellent job.”
Call 01738 658571 or email bertha. park@springfield.co.uk