PLANNING CONSENT FOR £10M INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS FOR KINGSGROVE, WANTAGE OPENS UP FURTHER PARTS OF THE SITE FOR NEW HOMES

Vale of White Horse District Council has granted planning consent for two major infrastructure¬¬¬¬¬ applications and approved the development brief for the Neighbourhood Community Hub at St. Modwen’s¬ 1,500-home development at Kingsgrove, Wantage.

Approval of the reserved matters applications for southern link and central access roads and the initial phase of the east-west relief road will result in a further £10m of infrastructure investment at Kingsgrove by St. Modwen this year.

The consents will unlock three key phases of residential development, as the new roads will serve Phase 1b for St. Modwen Homes¬, as wells as phases 2a and 3a at the south east of the site which are being marketed to housebuilders, all of which will comprise 336 more new homes.

St Modwen has appointed infrastructure specialist Natta to undertake the works, which will start on site at the end of this month.

Vale of White Horse District Council has also granted consent for the scheme’s Development Brief to deliver the Neighbourhood Community Hub, which is central to the community and non-residential elements of the scheme. This is a key part of the vision for the scheme to deliver a place where people choose to live within South Oxfordshire.

Multi award-winning housebuilder, St. Modwen Homes is already on site with the delivery of the first 70 contemporary houses, adjacent to Wantage & Grove cricket ground, and this infrastructure will enable further sites for residential development to be brought forward.

Rob Draper, Development Director, St. Modwen, said: “Kingsgrove is one of the South-East’s most significant strategic housing projects, and these milestone consents for major infrastructure delivery at Kingsgrove will substantially reduce the time needed to bring forward high-quality new homes and community facilities. St Modwen will be working closely with contractors to minimise any impact on the local road network for these consented works.”
James Bainbridge, Head of Planning and Development at Carter Jonas, commented on behalf of the landowners: “After many years spent promoting the site to provide much needed new housing in Science Vale, we are pleased to have taken a major step forward towards delivering that housing and seeing the development coming to fruition.”

As well as implementing the infrastructure works, St. Modwen will deliver up to half of the 1,500 new homes through its multi-award winning house-building arm, St. Modwen Homes. The rest of the development plots will be released in tranches and sold to other housebuilders for building out.

The 227-acre site was granted outline planning permission in July 2015 by the Vale of the White Horse Council District Council for up to 1,500 homes, a new primary school, a neighbourhood centre including pub/restaurant and local retail accommodation, sports pitches, employment space and community amenities set around a central park.

For further information visit www.kingsgrovewantage.co.uk