Proposal for the greenest complex of homes in Hull
PLANS INCLUDE CHARGING POINTS, WATER BUTTS AND SOLAR POWER
AROUND 650 new homes could eventually be built on land between the Spring Cottage estate and the Holderness Drain.
Currently a large greenfield site known as East Carr, it was allocated for potential future housing in Hull City Council’s 2016 Local Plan which maps out future land use policies for the next 15 years.
Now a masterplan for the 30-hectare site has been produced by the council envisaging how it should be developed.
The plan says the site offers the potential for some car-free streets, a series of pocket parks and communal rain gardens instead of roads between some houses.
These will be designed to soak up and store surface water during periods of heavy rainfall using so-called sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) similar to a series of aqua greens created in Hull in recent years.
Describing them as “SUD streets”, the plan says: “Although their purpose is to provide a car-free network and promote outdoor activities, the main role of the SUD is to provide sustainable surface water drainage and retention.
“Given Hull’s topography and especially the site’s location, it is essential that above ground SUDS are an integral design feature of the development and ‘SUD streets’ will be a distinctive and exemplar feature of the development.
“Given the abundance of evidence that describes the many positive impacts of truly green public space on people’s quality of life, standard of living and health and well-being, green space has played an integral part in the conceptual masterplan.
“East Carr is an island on a sea of green space and it will be essential to continue this characteristic into the development.
“The sea of green will be let into the development through a SUDS network that connects residents to central nodes and the surrounding amenity space. The SUDS network will support cyclists and pedestrians and will hold right of way over cars.”
It also says developers will be required to provide at least one water butt per property as they are built along with capacity for up to two electric charging points. The use of solar power for domestic electricity and water heating is also being encouraged.
Just over eight hectares of land at the site will be left untouched because it falls into a high-risk flood zone.
The guidance suggests car parking will only be allowed at the side or to the rear of properties to keep streets free from vehicles, allowing more space for planting and landscaping.
Councillor Daren Hale, cabinet member for planning, said: “The masterplan will ensure the development of this land is done so in a way that delivers a high-quality residential development, well served by good access to public amenities and space.”
A six-week public consultation is set to start this summer once the process is agreed by the council’s cabinet.