Planning permission granted for first homes at Radio Station Rugby
Davidsons Homes has been granted planning permission to build the first homes on the site of the former Rugby Radio Station.
Rugby Borough Council has approved an application by the developer to build 105 homes on the site next to Hillmorton on the eastern edge of Rugby and work is due to get underway later this summer.
The homes represent the first phase of RadioStation Rugby, a 1,200 acre urban extension which will eventually comprise 6,200 new homes, three primary schools, a secondary school, a GP health centre, 31 hectares of employment space and 299 hectares of open space.
The scheme, a joint venture between property development company Urban&Civic and Aviva Investors, is on the Government’s list of national priority sites, and is set to be delivered over a 20-year period.
The development has been recently named Houlton, reflective of its heritage, and Davidsons Homes will build the first 250 homes there, a selection of three, four and five-bedroom houses.
Stephanie King, Sales Director for Davidsons Homes, said: “We are extremely proud to have been chosen to deliver the first homes at RadioStation Rugby, which is such an exciting development for the area, and we are naturally very pleased to have been granted planning permission for the first phase of homes.
“As a developer, we have a reputation for building high quality homes across the Midlands and we are looking forward to continuing the transformation of this brownfield site into an attractive and vibrant community.
“The homes will cater for a range of buyers, from young professionals to growing families and we are hoping to welcome the first visitors to the development this year.”
Outline planning permission for the whole scheme was granted in May 2014 and work is already underway on a new roundabout and cycleway along A428 Crick Road, a refurbishment of Dollman Farm to create a visitor centre, café and community facilities and the first primary school which will open in September next year.”
Richard Coppell, Development Director at Urban&Civic, said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Davidsons Homes to build our first homes here at Houlton. They build beautiful, high-quality homes and we wanted to set the bar really high.
“We have placed the same emphasis on the quality of our infrastructure – the roads, the extensive landscaping and the refurbishment of Dollman Farm community hub are all intended to demonstrate that we are starting as we mean to go on.
“With a further 6000 homes to follow over the long term, and with such anticipation locally from both stakeholders and the community, we are thrilled to be at this point.”
Known locally as the ‘mast site’, the land was once home to twelve 820ft masts which helped pioneer global communications in the 1920s.
It was once the world’s largest radio transmission station and in 1927 sent the first ever transatlantic telephone call to the United States, to a receiving station in the town of Houlton in Maine – the inspiration for the development’s name, Houlton.