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News Release from: Chartered Institute of Building [CIOB] | Subject: Northstowe
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 30 March 2006
'Climate change exemplar' new town near
Cambridge
Northstowe will see creation of the first 'exemplar' sustainable community offering homes design and built to 'very high' Eco-homes standards.
Government sponsors 'climate change exemplar' new town near Cambridge In a deal worth almost £100m, English Partnerships, the U.K.regeneration agency, has completed one of its biggest single acquisitions with the purchase of the disused Oakington Barracks in south Cambridgeshire from Defence Estates
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 12 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The purchase of the 288 ha site is set to unlock the development of the proposed new town of Northstowe, creating up to 10,000 new homes.
Five miles from the centre of Cambridge, the new town will contribute to the region's capacity to accommodate growth and ease pressure on the Cambridge housing market that currently suffers from a shortage of new and affordable homes.
As announced earlier by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Northstowe will see creation of the first 'exemplar' sustainable community offering homes design and built to 'very high' Eco-homes standards.
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The land sale is another example of the strong working relationship between the two agencies in devising strategies to make best use of surplus public sector land in line with government aspirations.
Since 2003 English Partnerships has acquired more than 2,000 ha of surplus public sector sites, which are expected to provide around 20,000 homes nationally over the next 10 years as part of a comprehensive regeneration programme.
The biggest single contribution to this portfolio was the completion of a deal to transfer 96 former hospital sites to the agency in April 2005.
As well as these significant acquisitions, English Partnerships has introduced a range of other initiatives aimed at ensuring public sector land is used more effectively.
These include the Register of Surplus Public Sector Land - a comprehensive database currently listing more than 700 sites, owned by 40 public sector agencies, totalling almost 5,000 ha of land - as well as framework and collaborative working agreements with other government bodies.
The value of the site has been determined by independent valuers for both English Partnerships and Defence Estates and the deal involves a transfer of £99.5m between English Partnerships (ODPM) and Defence Estates (Ministry of Defence).
Defence Estates was advised by Donaldsons and Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP.
DTZ Debenham Tie Leung acted for English Partnerships.
A joint framework agreement signed between the two agencies in 2004 sets out a flexible working approach ranging from English Partnerships purchasing sites for development through to partnership arrangements where both agencies collaborate on design and planning to create a master plan for the future delivery of a site.
English Partnerships is currently advising Defence Estates on Project MoDEL, a major disposals programme that will consolidate Ministry of Defence activities in and around London and could yield development potential for around 10,000 homes with the release of 90 ha of brownfield sites within the M25.
English Partnerships has also worked closely with Defence Estates on plans for the creation of a sustainable urban extension on MoD land at Aldershot.
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