Urban Renaissance Villages and developers Helical Bar plc have taken great pains to ensure that the local wildlife at their Durrants Village site in Faygate, near Horsham, West Sussex, is well catered for before they start building 148 luxury cottages and apartments designed for the independent, active over 55s.
In the past year, the developers have worked closely with leading environmental consultants Bioscan, who have advised the developers regarding a number of ecological issues, and recommended a range of measures to ensure minimum disruption to local flora and fauna.
Durrants Village is being built on the site of a disused sawmill and many of the deserted buildings have been used as roosts by both common pipistrelle and brown long-eared bats. As part of the development 10 bat boxes are being installed around the site and a purpose built bat house with a pitched roof has been constructed nearby.
Of course, bats aren’t the only local inhabitants. And as part of an extensive relocation project, a total of 434 common lizards, 140 slow worms and 16 grass snakes have been removed from the work area and relocated to specially constructed habitats protected by a site-wide ‘reptile fence’. Once the building work has been completed the fence will be removed and the wildlife will again be allowed to move freely.
The developers have also created an activity exclusion zone on the western boundary of the site to avoid disturbing an extensive badger sett in the area.
Other ecological measures that will be undertaken on the site include the creation of flower-rich meadows, which can be “hay cut” in late August/September; refurbishment of derelict woodland ponds; and the seeding of retained woodland and hedgerows to increase ground flora diversity.
When all the local wildlife has been catered for, the former industrial buildings will be replaced with 148 luxury two bedroom apartments and two and three bedroom cottages, all beautifully designed to blend with the local architecture and building materials.
There will also be the trademark luxury facilities that have been lauded at the developers’ award-winning development, Bramshott Place Village in Liphook: a luxurious clubhouse, which will include nine apartments, a restaurant, bar, meeting room, games room, a leisure centre with pool, medical centre and a library. The clubhouse, apartments and cottages are all surrounded by well-tended grounds and gardens.
In keeping with its environmental responsibilities, the development is right next door to Faygate train station, encouraging the use of public, rather than private, transport. Local transport options will also be improved from Faygate to Horsham and other local destinations, with a minibus service introduced in due course. The bus service, as well as the small onsite grocery store will be available to local Faygate villagers as well as the residents at Durrants Village.
For further information visit www.durrantsvillage.co.uk or call the marketing suite on 01293 851935.
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