Promoting Strategic Development Projects
We are a privately owned development company that promotes land to deliver sensitively designed housing and mixed use schemes within carefully created landscaped environments.
We believe that the planning and delivery of new homes should be a positive and inclusive process.
Adopting a positive approach and working with the grain of the community, we receive more support for our projects and this reduces objections and uncertainty, for the benefit of all those involved in the development process.
The company forms part of a group that has grown organically to a size that now handles around 3000 plots across 30 to 40 projects and this number is growing as the team expands.
Our core team are all experts in the key disciplines of land economics, chartered surveying, town planning and engineering. The company handles many sizes of project ranging from small village schemes to larger urban extensions.
All members of the team are involved in every project, assembling and managing the wider group of experts and consultants that best fit every scheme, according to the particular circumstances.
BSc MA MRICS MRTPI
Director & Founder
jh@providenceland.co.uk
07958 327465
01494 728080
BA (Hons) Dip Arch Dip BRS RIBA
Director & Founder
je@providenceland.co.uk
07714 758442
01494 728080
MA (Cantab) MPhil FRICS MRTPI
Consultant:
Howard Sharp & Partners
OLNEY, MILTON KEYNES
‘We were impressed with all the careful and sensitive preparations that the team have put into the superb presentation on our land.’
Rev. J K Robertshaw, Landowner, Surrey.
Overseal, South Derbyshire
Barton-under-Needwood, East Staffordshire
Watlington, South Oxfordshire
‘They listened to us and captured the essence of the village in their proposals to blend in. Their approach gave us confidence from the outset. They did what they said they would and that reassured us’
Cllr Ian Metherell, Chair of Marsh Gibbon Parish Council
BUCKINGHAM, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Aston on Trent, South Derbyshire
‘It has turned out to be a much better scheme than even I thought it would be. It’s going down so well. People are beginning to integrate which is what it was all about’
Councillor Audrey Steel, Inkberrow, Worcestershire
BARTON, STAFFORDSHIRE
INKBERROW, WORCESTERSHIRE
Etwall, South Derbyshire
‘They took a different approach to other developers in that they really listened to the local community and this made a big difference. They were a pleasure to work with and most importantly for us, they kept their promises and did what they said they would do.’
Graham O’Dell, Derbyshire.
GNOSALL, STAFFORDSHIRE
‘They tackled all the problems of getting planning comprehensively. Our whole family are happy to recommend them to others, who will be in safe hands.’
David Higgott, Landowner, Northamptonshire.
Yoxall, East Staffordshire
Designing housing that relates to the local context is difficult to achieve and this is why it is rarely done well. Most people think that new housing is poorly designed and this is one of the main reasons locals object, as they fear it will decrease the value of the existing environment. We focus on understanding the context in order to capture what is distinctive and what defines its character.
Flood risk is an increasing threat. Some developers bury drainage under ground. We make water an asset and weave retention ponds and open water swales into the housing layout.
Artificial building materials do not weather well and look worse over time when compared to natural materials. Locally or regionally sourced natural materials have the advantages of supporting the local economy and ease of sourcing in future for repairs and refurbishment. People instinctively prefer the look and feel of natural materials.
Climate change remains a key driver of planning policy and housing design. Energy needs of the new housing should be minimised in the first place by adopting a ‘fabric first’ approach which focuses on high levels of insulation and air tightness in the building construction.
The dominance of car parking and over engineered roads add cost to a housing development and can exacerbate drainage issues. It is difficult to design spaces that feel intimate and special. We focus on accommodating cars and parking in a way that is less intrusive and we make it easy to walk and cycle through our schemes.
Many existing and new housing developments suffer through lack of imagination and quality of the landscape and setting. We work closely with landscape specialists to carefully conceive meaningful designs for the open space that respond to the context of the site and consider how it will enhance the quality of life of the people who use it.
This can also create cost savings by retaining areas of interest set aside to remain wild which is also great for biodiversity. By combining this approach with our drainage expertise, we turn practical requirements into value- enhancing features.
There is a growing demand by people for space to grow their own food. The traditional allotment still has it’s place but there is also a demand for larger communal growing plots where the work is shared. The biodiversity benefits of harvesting fruits from orchards and planting wild flowers are obvious.
Opportunities will exist for the new housing to be built around existing natural features. We have all been losing our instinctive connection to the natural world over recent years with the growth in technology and the digital revolution. Our projects are designed to allow people to reconnect to the natural environment at every opportunity.
A ploughed field in intensive agricultural use is a relative ecological desert, compared to a housing estate with well-conceived landscaping and open space. The natural assets of a site form the background to the overall master plan and ensure the habitats that exist are retained.
