Curo, the Bath-based housing association and housebuilder, has submitted an outline planning application for the regeneration of the city’s Foxhill estate to Bath & North East Somerset Council.
Under the plans, up to 542 of the estate’s 900 homes would be demolished and up to 700 new ones built – at least 30% of them affordable.
Curo already has permission to build 700 homes at its neighbouring Mulberry Park development – the former Foxhill MoD site – as well as a £10m school, nursery, community building and sports pitch.
Foxhill is often viewed as Bath’s ‘forgotten’ housing estate, with higher-than-average unemployment and related social problems.
Curo said its “significant investment” in the area would not only develop new homes and upgrading community facilities but also provide skills and employment opportunities as well as improving links the rest of the city.
The outline planning application is the result of three years of consultation with the council, residents and other stakeholders.
More than 1,500 people attended workshops, exhibitions, group meetings and one-to-one meetings with Curo and London-based masterplanning architects HTA Design to shape the proposals.
Curo said feedback from residents had been reflected in the proposed sequence of regeneration, the development of larger family homes and improvements to local shops.
The application includes key design features such as building heights and the approximate location of new roads and green spaces.
Curo is also building 210 affordable homes at Mulberry Park. Curo has agreed a local lettings plan with B&NES Council which ensures that Foxhill residents will receive priority for the new homes.
As well as the new homes, the outline application shows improved east-west connections between Foxhill and Mulberry Park. Curo said this would integrate the two communities and better connect Foxhill to the wider Combe Down area.
It would also provide more than four times more open space in the local area with small parks and improved access to Springfield Park.
Curo chief executive Victor da Cunha said: “These plans underpin Curo’s vision to use the development of Mulberry Park as a catalyst for positive regeneration that will lead to improvements in both the physical and social environment at Foxhill.
“As a registered charity and social landlord, we are committed to providing homes to meet local need. Despite the lack of grant funding for new, social rent homes, we are continuing to pursue other sources of funding to enable us to do more.
“We have worked with hundreds of local people over the last three years to balance a range of views and present the best possible regeneration proposals for the whole community. We hope that the council will support this application and enable us to make this vision a reality.”
The Foxhill estate is part of the Foxhill Housing Zone, one of just 20 housing zones outside London designated by central government in 2015. The designation brings additional support and confirms its status as a nationally significant housing project.
If the outline planning application is approved by the council, Curo said it would work with residents on a phase-by-phase basis to identify the best regeneration options for each area of the estate.
Pictured: Artist’s impression of the redeveloped Mulberry Park and Foxhill estate areas
