Exploring Berewood and Wellington Park

A few photos I took during my recent exploration of the new housing developments.
Some mature trees have been left alone. The new school is in the background.

 

Looking towards Waterlooville through the Berewood Estate. St Georges church clock tower can be seen in the distance.

More homes on the Berewood estate. The drainage systems are found throughout the estate. Yep, the joys of moronic British 'political' boundaries means that these Waterlooville homes are in the boundaries of Winchester City Council 21 miles away, as opposed to Havant Borough Council 5.4 miles away.

Paths and roads have been created joining different parts of the developing areas. Many of the roads are currently blocked off until the development work is completed.

Another drainage system, new homes in the distance.

There is a bridge that connects Berewood with Wellington Park. Like many of the roads it is blocked off, although it is open to cyclists and pedestrians. The wood crash barrier is a nice feature and gets thumbs up here! Why can't all crash barriers look like this!

The stream as seen from the bridge.

Not all the Wellington Park homes look ugly brick boxes. These are boxes, but they have wood cladding. Why can't the whole estate look like this?

More homes on Taylor Wimpey site

A failure of Taylor Wimpey and Havant Borough Council to create a hybrid and sustainable development has led to HBC councillors agreeing that no empoyment properties (other than shops) will be built at Wellington Park. Instead HBC councillors have approved the building of more homes and the councillors say there will be employment at the Dunsbury Hill Farm development.

It appears that developers and councillors are forcing the unsustainable developments of the past onto us today, they put little effort into creating new sustainable developments and instead fall back onto the idea of large housing estates built miles from any work place. Thus people are forced to drive to work which in turn requires the upgrading of unsustainable infrastructure to make it work.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-27442575

Richard Rodgers house built in a day

It's time to move on.

Whether you like the design or not, is neither here nor there. You can't help but admire the fact that the idea would help solve a lot of problems in the UK. The system was used to build the London Olympics 2012 Velodrome.




Richard Rodgers Homeshell
Homeshell in the RA Courtyard
Building Design Online

Berewood fantasy

So I believe the properties on the Berewood housing development are officially up for sale. Time to have a look at the rose tinted vision Bloor and the architects have about the Waterlooville area!

Here is an analysis of some points made in the marketing booklet for the new housing estate, published and distributed circa 22/06/2013. The development is part of the West of Waterlooville MDA.

Berewood Marketing Booklet (text samples)	Waterlooville Reality
Page 7: Berewood's Garden City will be somewhere our residents can enjoy a high quality and more sustainable way of life...	Garden City?? Since when has a housing estate ever been a garden city? The term garden city dates back to 1898, which amusingly reveals a lot about the true inspiration for Berewood. Instead of drawing inspiration from the real local architecture, mostly dating from 1930 onwards, inspiration has instead come from a Victorian 'movement', minus the coal chugging steam engines. Noble as the idea might be, building a 'garden city' on virgin agricultural land a few yards from a suburban sprawl isn't exactly what Ebenezer Howard had in mind. Indeed Berewood will never be self sufficient and will be a strange protusion on the side of Waterlooville. A quirk of council borders, because most of it will be outside of Waterlooville and Purbook council/political boundaries.
Page 10: Robert Adam has drawn inspiration from the architectural styles found in the surrounding villages; and says; " Each of the new homes will have their own identity and character, and local materials will be used where possible".	Not sure what properties Robert Adam actually looked at in the non-existent surrounding villages, but I don't think any of them were any where near Waterlooville. Unless 'inspiration' means looking through local history books with content predating 1920. Lets have a look at the real world... Purbrook: behind the sign, some lovely bungalows. Purbrook: post 1970s flats and some 1930s houses Waterlooville: a few hundred yards from the Berewood development, some typical flats, post 1970s Waterlooville: dual carriageways and plenty of suburban traffic: Waterlooville: 1970s social housing: Cowplain: the traditional architecture of Waterlooville and Cowplain, rows and rows of suburban bungalows. Miles and miles of post WWII bungalows, flats and detached houses.
Page 13: Nestled within beautiful countryside, just 8 miles from Portsmouth, Berewood boasts eco-friendly credentials, tranquil surroundings and a very special way of life, all within easy reach of London.	Normally when expressing distances between places, one uses the 'as the crow flies' or geodesic distance. eg. the direct distance. However in this case, the Bloor marketing people appear to have used Google or a car navigation unit and worked out the distance using the A3(M) and A27 as the route. Which is roughly an 8 mile journey, as long as you don't drive down to Southsea! The true distance from Portsmouth is about 4 miles 'as the crow flies'. Tranquil surroundings?? Well  I guess the fields on which Berewood is being built were once a bit tranquil, but I would hardly call the B21590 and Maurepaus Way tranquil! Waterlooville is a suburban post war sprawl, it has been for many decades. Easy reach of London?? It's 50+ miles away! You can't get there without burning a lot of carbon. Is that supposed to encourage environmentally friendly behaviour? There is no nearby train station within walking distance. You have a 30 minute bus ride to the station in Cosham and 45+ minute bus ride to Havant station. You could take a coach to London, but do you really want to do that everyday? One assumes of course that Bloor et al are not suggesting driving to London, creating more traffic, pollution and CO2 emissions. Some 25% of UK carbon emissions are due to road traffic. One minute Berewood is a 'Garden City', next it's a suburban satelite of London. The marketing appears to be confused (or maybe post-modern). Google map
Page 13: Ideally located close to the heart of Waterloovilles vibrant town centre. Berewood promises a great choice of local restaurants, independent shops and top performing schools.	I think anyone reading 'vibrant' in association with Waterlooville will laugh out loud. Read the many blog posts on this blog to see how 'vibrant' it is. If you like Macdonalds, Subway and Costas then you'll love the local restaurants. The only local restaurant of note that I can think of is the Shalimar. A great choice of independent shops? Here is a sample (minus the numerous big corporates):
Page 13: With picturesque villages of Purbrook, Blendworth, Cowplain, Lovedean, Clanfield, Catherington, Crookhorn, Deanmead, Hambledon, Horndean and Widley...	My advice is take a look at Google maps and streetview and judge for yourself. Can you see a picturesque village? Maybe Hambledon is still a village. Maybe even Clanfield. But Cowplain and Purbrook? Maybe Bloors author lives in Australia and has no internet connection?
Page 18: For a relaxed shopping trip, Waterlooville offers an excellent range of small independent stores.	This doesn't reflect reality. Anyone who has shopped in Waterlooville since the 1960s has seen nearly all independent shops close down, just like any other town centre. Long gone are (can't remember many of the names) the Baytree Bookshop, the art shop, Transatlantic Plastics, a number of independent shoe shops and an independent hardware shop (got any fork handles?). The fact is that most shops in Waterlooville are big corporates, including: Asda, Iceland, Waitrose, Brantano, Wickes, Wilkinson, Boots, WH Smith, Subway, Costa, Macdonalds, Carphone Warehouse and many others. That is why (along with internet retailing) we don't have many independent shops.

Berewood toy town takes shape

The Grainger/Bloor toy town is starting to take shape close to Waterlooville.

This alien project has been designed by  Architects in Winchester who base their designs on the fossil fuel burning past, the properties have fake chimneys and tiny windows.

The marketing hype states that the homes are inspired by small Hampshire towns.

What the marketing propaganda doesn't say is that in order to find one of these idealistic small Hampshire towns, you will have to take a trip in a time machine to visit Jane Austen in the 18th century.

Once upon a time Waterlooville looked like one of these towns from the past, that is until post war Britain needed to build thousands of houses in the area. The result is that the character of Waterlooville happens to be in the1950s, 1960s and later, not in the 18th century.

We do need to preserve buildings like Swiss Cottage, but we don't need fake historic buildings.

Swiss Cottage (1876)
more window real estate than
the 2013 Berewood homes

So Waterlooville has a toy/fantasy town being built on valuable farmland on the edges of the existing town and is disrespectful to the majority of the architecture in the area. When were Georgian buildings ever built using modern timber frame techniques?

But the fantasy nature of the buildings is just a part of the problem.

We need to reduce energy use and that means designing homes that capture as much energy from the environment as possible without the need for energy inputs from fossil fuels and grid connected renewable energy.

Yes we do need the grid and the large scale renewable energy projects to feed it. But low carbon life isn't about consumption for consumptions sake. The 'client' side of the system (homes and businesses) must be as efficient as possible, providing some energy from domestic renewable energy systems. The way forward is the use of elements of Passive solar design, a realist approach to property design that uses the natural energy around us to do as much of the work for us as possible.

It's time that the architectural and political ideology that is firmly rooted in the past, remains in the past, because the ageing pensioners that support it are not our future.


Some useful links:
http://www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/green-design-overview/saving-energy/energy-harvesting/passive-solar-design/
http://www.yougen.co.uk/blog-entry/2119/Heat+your+home+with+passive+solar+energy/
http://www.superhomes.org.uk/resources/passive-solar-design/
http://passivesolar.sustainablesources.com/
http://www.passivhaus.org.uk/
http://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/

Grainger - Berewood development March 2013

Some panoramic views of the current work on the Grainger - West of Waterlooville MDA development (click on theimage to view the full size version):

The 'front' has been tidied up. Drainage is going to be an issue across the whole site, as can be seen from this front of house shot.

The back end of the devlopment is currently a very muddy building site. I guess the company is desperate to build the first show homes. There are new cycle and pedestrian paths/tracks that border the site.


The act of building on the site will of course have an impact on drainage. Roads and concrete have an impact on how effectively the land absorbs the water. The assumption is that the developers know what they are doing and have carefully followed genuine climate science advice about future flooding risks.

Road side drainage ditch. How long will these stay clear?

What plans does Winchester and Havant councils have to make sure all this drainage and flood mitigation infrastructure remain clear of rubbish, weeds and debris?

Hambledon Parade 2007 to 2013

Some then and now photos:

The hedgerow gone and replaced with flats. Some new bollards installed at the Sunnymead Drive entrance to Hambledon Parade.

Just before the work started on Wellington Park, I took some photos from within the fields.
The 2013 photo here is an approximation of where I was standing in 2007. I might have been further back from the pylons in 2007, or the lens on the older camera gave a wider angle view in 2007.

If I was further back from the pylons, then where I was standing in 2007 is now inside one of the ground floor flats.

New Waterlooville recycling facility

The new Waterlooville recycling centre is nearing completion, ready to be opened next week. It is situated next to the pylons and the cables are just above the road as you come away from the centre.

I hope they have checked the height of the high container vehicles that will be servicing the site, when they are stacked up with waste they can be quite high.

The site is bigger than the old one and is set well back behind the existing Taylor Wimpey housing development. This leads to the issue of just how many more homes will be built between the new facility and the rear of the existing Taylor Wimpey development.

Just before you get to the recycling centre there is a water saturated bit of land.

Looks like it is often a boggy area, but I think this years rains have probably added to the water levels.

Just under the pylons there are warning signs about deep water, two swans were paddling in a large pond in a protected area whilst I was there.

The new facility is accessed via the Wellington Park junction nearest to Denmead and the pylons. I'm afraid I don't know any of the names of the roads on the Wellington Park development, that includes the road that leads to the recycling facility.

Dukes Meadow 2007 to 2012

The Taylor Wimpey development at Dukes Meadow is nearly completed with the 'prison block' flats dominating the view from Hambledon Road.

Although in principle there is nothing wrong with blocks of flats, I think most people aren't impressed by the cost cutting styling of the flats lining the Hambledon Road.

The initial blocks of flats were skinned with bricks, but later blocks were just skimmed with cement and then painted.

This video slide show has been put together using photos  taken over a period of 5 years and documents the changes since 2007. The slides are accompanied by an audio soundtrack.

In 1979 Robert Crumb developed a cartoon sequence called 'A Short History Of America' , I guess
this pays homage to it.

PO7&PO8 spam

The postman delivered the first copy of 'PO7&P08' today (as if I don't get enough paper spam already).
At least I think it was the postman, although I guess it could have been delivered by an unpaid 'intern'.

The problem with any publication that basically pretends to represent 'the community' and is funded by business is that it is in reality communicating a fantasy. Most people I know in the community talk about the weather, their family, whats on TV, why politicians are idiots or why life today is so crap. Hence it doesn't represent local community at all. Where is the critique if the only articles are press releases by businesses promoting a product or service?

'PO7&PO8' isn't a typical 'free' local publication (you do of course pay for it through dealings you have with the businesses that support it, hence in some way it is funded via a tax on the price you pay for a product or service), it was started by the deputy leader of Havant Borough Council, David Guest. So as well as being a propaganda outlet for various businesses, it is also linked to a specific political/economic ideology.

What is intrtiguing is that South Downs College is down as a 'Corporate Supporter' and on the front page of issue one it states 'It is the Corporate Support and the advertising that funds this project' which implies a publically funded body (South Downs College) gives money to a project that has political party connections.

The first issue also mentions Waterlooville Community Forum, which allegedly represents the community of Waterlooville. It replaces two community boards. So whats new about the WCF?
Well what isn't new is the people that are on the new forum, they include Waterlooville Business Assocaition, Residents Associations, church groups and local councillors. Basically the same groups that allegedly represented the community in the previous community boards. A bit of shuffling and then apparently everything is better! A few people in these forums claim they represent thousands of people, the question is do you know who they are or what they look like? Did you ever ask them to represent you?

In this first issue Grainger and Barrett have a chance to blow their own trumpets. Grainger take the opportunity to announce that their 2000 home development will be called 'Berewood'. Yep, in memory of millions of trees that were once the Forest of Bere, Grainger has decided to commemorate the fact that all that carbon is probably now in our atmsophere and that the new development will add more on top of that!

From the environmental point of view, it has nothing to recomend it. The publication doesn't appear to have any standards regarding types of business promoted. That in turn puts a massive question mark over Havant Borough Councils environmental and economic credentials.

The results of Havant Borough and Winchester City Councils decisions

 

Taylor Wimpeys Wellington Park development in Waterlooville continues with blocks of flats being built next to Southdown View. As this development progresses the buildings seem to have fewer and fewer features. These are bland white blocks with tiny windows at front and rear, and none along the sides. At first I thought they were offices (guess the still could be). But the access doors at ground level have pseudo victorian lamps by each door, not the sort of thing you would have on offices.

 

The old Waterlooville Wadham Stringer and latterly Caetano site has been demolished, with only huge piles of rubble remaining. The old Sprint Print building has also been demolished. I haven't checked the plans, but most people I have talked to think the Sainsburys petrol station is going top be built on the Sprint site, although I thought it had been moved to the recycling centre across the road. Yeah, Sainburys build petrol stations so you continue to pump CO2 from your car, and their own company CO2 figures look 'green'. Another CO2, export and green wash accounting measure. It's a nice little game such companies play, which is why CO2 emissions haven't come down in the UK and we are really fecked. The idea of consuming less and using less energy, just doesn't fit in with selling lots of crap everyday from a big retail store.

 

A view of the Sainbury site from the Waterlooville side. Note the already horrendous 'private' footpath and cycle path in the foreground. Havant Borough Council offloaded responsibility for this important path into Waterlooville years ago. It is still a nightmare for pedestrians and cyclists trying to reach the real Waterlooville town centre (you know, the one with buildings a 100 plus years old, the one the council is now determined to destroy, as they have destroyed in the past). This year we lose the Baytree Bookshop and others in the town centre. I'm guessing Sainburys will be selling books as well as food.

 

More devlopments in the Waterlooville retail park. A large unit being split into two smaller units. Downsizing!??

I haven't included in this post the start of work on the massive Grainger 2000 home development just behind the trees. The photo didn't come out to well, so that can wait for another time.

I also haven't shown the numerous trees that have been felled as a result of these developments.

Wellington Park

Had a look around Taylor Wimpeys Wellington Park and took some photos. This photo looks back towards Hambledon Road along Coulter Road. Fortunately the Oak trees on the right of the photo have been retained from the fields that the housing estate is built on. One thing the is lacking on the site is trees, the building work isn't complete yet but as can be seen on the left of the photo, there aren't a lot of trees planted near the homes. We'll have to see how things develop.

Some flats at the rear of the development. They will have a good view of Portsdown Hill, currently there are still earth works at the rear. I can't remember from the plan how far the site is supposed to extend back from Hambledon Road, possibly further than this point. In the background you can see the pylon cables.

On the other side of the completed estate looking back towards Hambledon road again. In the distance can be seen the strange flats with the chimney/vent in the centre of each building.

  

What is interesting is that some of the homes have Solar PV panels on the roof. Can't help thinking that 3 panels is a bit pathetic. Many houses now are having most of the roof covered in them. Not only that, why don't they also have solar heating panels as well?? It all seems like Taylor Wimpey aren't sure about what they are doing.

In the centre there is a small public green which is probably the best part. The houses on the left have solar heating panels and those next to them on the right have solar PV panels (electric). There are benches to sit on that don't appear in the photo.
One good aspect is that bollards are used to block off some roads from traffic, which means they would be safe for kids to use.

You can see from these photos that trees are largely sparsely planted and ornamental. Yes they are obviously very young, but I don't get the impression any big trees have been planted.

Wellington Park

Yet another change of name for the Taylor Wimpey housing development, once called Dukes Meadow and I think something else before that?? Now it's called Wellington Park, which is less subtle than Dukes Meadow. For a few months even the name of the developer changed, but now they seem to be happy with Taylor Wimpey:

Newlands Alert!

In July Grainger will be showing off their latest plans for the Newlands West of Waterlooville MDA housing development, they are asking for opinions from the public.

Times and Place:

Waterlooville Community Centre
Friday 9th July, 1.30pm - 7.30pm
Saturday 10th July, 10am - 3pm

The focus will be on Phase 1 and the details of the design of this phase.

Grainger head of sustainability wins compensation

It is well known that Grainger are responsible for the Newlands development of 2,000 homes, a part of the West of Waterlooville MDA. However it is less well known that Graingers head of sustainability had been sacked by the company for being green and doing his job! Tim Nicholson (the advisor) has recently won his battle with Grainger and was awarded a large sum of money by the courts. The exact amount is unclear, media reports vary from £50,000 to £750,000.

The first stage of his battle was to get the legal establishment to accept that being sacked for being green could actually be a court case. Having won that battle, he then had to prove his case.

This indicates that Grainger aren't as green as they would like people to think they are. It will be interesting to see how they market the West of Waterlooville MDA in the future.

The case also has implications for other employees who have green views and are discriminated against, in their jobs or work enviroment.

Dukes Meadow Show Homes

Had a look around the Dukes Meadow new home builds recently. The whole site has changed back to Taylor Wimpey again, the Bryant name being removed from the whole site.

From the outside you can see that most of the houses have solar heating panels on the roof, although I'm not sure the flats do. The solar panels look like the older flat plate type rather than the vacuum tube type commonly available now. Unfortunately the sales staff aren't particularly technically competent, so I didn't get very far with the details!

I had a look around the bigger show home, where there were various controllers installed to control the lighting, alarm, heating etc. But no smart meters!?
All that tech to use energy and none to help save it?
Not having smart meters, seems like a big mistake to me.

All the homes seemed to be fitted with modern condensing gas boilers to work in tandem with the solar panels. All newly fitted gas boilers these days have to be the condensing type and they are roughly 90% efficient.

There is a mixture of flats, two storey houses and three storey 'town houses', all of which have a SAP energy efficiency rating of 'B'. This is one down from the top rating of 'A'. So by today's standards they are probably quite good, but I doubt if they match Passiv Haus standards in energy efficiency. Certainly in a few years time, energy efficiency standards will be raised further. In fact they should be higher now, but developers are dragging their feet.

I hope the Grainger properties will be better, they aren't however going to show their revised designs and ideas until early next year.

How the Grainger development looks today

I thought I would take some photos from the footpath through the proposed Grainger (West of Waterlooville MDA) site. Note the descriptions are based on my own interpretation of the Grainger plans and the location that the photo was taken:

This photo shows the view at the corner of the allotments. According to the latest proposal the allotments will remain, most of the land in the photo will be built on though. There will be buildings that run along the the hedge which defines the allotment border.


This image shows 'plant farm' which will remain, most of the space in the photo should remain 'green' space with no building. The hedgerows and trees should remain. There will be a lot of building behind the farm.


In this shot the foreground should remain green space, but looking back to the London road, all that space will be built on. The hedge in the left of the photo defines the allotment boundary. There will be buildings in front of the allotment.


This shot is looking towards Hambledon road and the industrial estate. There will be a lot of buildings in the distance, but the foreground should remain green space. To the right, there will also be some building (the allotment boundary).

Newlands development - consultation

Lots of stuff to write about! But the first post is about the ongoing saga of the West of Waterlooville MDA. As reported in a previous post, Grainger are extending their part of the MDA to include 1,000 more homes.

They are launching a web site on the same day that they are presenting the new plans at the Waterlooville Community Centre on the 13th November. At the moment the web site just has a splash screen, but on the 13th the site will become active and an online consultation form will be published.

It is important that Waterlooville folk participate in the consultation to get the best results. However it should be noted that this appears to be a commercial consultation carried out by Grainger for their own purposes and not a statutory one conducted by the council
Grainger - Newlands Hampshire Consultation web site

Grainger to be challenged in court

The company behind the biggest part of the West of Waterlooville MDA will be challenged in court over the sacking of its head of sustainability. Tim Nicholson has won a court battle that now allows him to challenge his dismissal. He claims that he was sacked for his views about anthropogenic climate change and the science behind it.

Hopefully the court case could reveal something about attitudes in the building industry. One wonders what exactly is confirmed in the mind of the Grainger corporate affairs spokesperson mentioned in the BBC article??

Winchester dumps another 1000 homes on Waterlooville

Grainger Plc is submitting its ideas to the public for 1000 homes in addition to the existing homes planned in the West of Waterlooville MDA. The plans will be on display at the Waterlooville Community Centre on 13th and 14th November. This isn't a planning application consultation, rather a preview of what Grainger are proposing. However opinions expressed by the public may influence Graingers eventual application, so it is important that people make their voices heard.