
The materials we choose to build our sustainable housing is a key contributor to place-making and ensuring the new community reflects the local identity. Using local, natural materials wherever possible is one way to capture the essence of Romsey and the other surrounding settlements. Another is to consult and hire local experts to carry out the work, after all, who knows the Hampshire vernacular better than local craftsmen and builders?
This approach not only ensures the new build homes blend in seamlessly with the existing communities but also contributes to the sustainability of the build as a whole as it reduces the need for long transportation distances, cutting down carbon emissions. It also provides a boost for the local economy.
As the Ashfield Estate and Partnership is aiming to build a legacy that works for everyone, the input of the wider community is invaluable to our cause. As such, we have already held and will continue to hold a number of consultation sessions to learn what is needed in the local community, ensuring our new sustainable housing is a success for all.
Each building at Luzborough, Mountbatten Park, and Whitenap has been, or will be, designed not so much to stand out but to contribute to making the place. Phases and streets may reveal a particular character but they will conform to the overall Masterplan which aims to secure the traditional Hampshire, specifically the Test Valley, vernacular.
Creating a place which we can cherish is as much about how the place works as it is about the individual buildings. Materials help to remind you of where you are and help to connect a new place to the existing settlement. The new homes at Luzborough, the first and pioneering Ashfield community, are the proof that new communities can positively contribute to the surrounding neighbourhoods and landscape.
In order to maintain this seamless integration, certain controls and regulations need to be put in place by way of our Community Code. What this means is that residents living in an Ashfield community agree to a set of guidelines that are designed to ensure the place remains attractive, sustainable and valuable for all.
This Code will at first be regulated by The Ashfield Estate and in time, taken over by a residents’ association or other similar body.