Situated on the former site of Rugby’s landmark 1920s radio station, the emerging new town of Houlton offers thoughtful planning inclusions and access to natural landscape and wildlife corridors. This development really is Biodiversity Net Gain in action.
The Houlton Rugby site is under the care of developers Urban & Civic, and it was wonderful to have Urban & Civics’ Head of Sustainability attend our Biodiversity Loss Reversal webinar last year.
The Houlton Rugby site will ultimately see 6,200 homes built with new schools, eateries and community facilities following. Set within 1,200 acres of beautiful open space in Warwickshire, this is also a well-placed development, with 80% of the country able to be reached within four hours.
Residents and visitors will be able to walk around the town through “wildlife corridors”. Ponds will feature plentifully with SuDS considerations a key aspect of the development. Houlton’s landscape has been designed by Bradley Murphy Design and we have supplied turf to the site via Akers Land and Ecology.
Biodiversity Net Gain is at the core of this innovative development, and this statement from Urban & Civic really epitomises how our natural environment and green space have become crucial considerations in how we live, work and play.
“Early investment in landscape creates a framework which grows with a new community as well as a sense of maturity from the outset. One of the key lessons from lockdown is the importance people place on the green spaces immediately around them. It is now a top factor in both home buying decisions and in terms of quality of life. For people, a multifunctional landscape provides space to walk, exercise, play, work, rest and learn. Alongside this and of equal importance is that for flora, fauna, entomological and other living organisms the same landscape is home and there needs to be areas which are just for them. Achieving a successful balance for all requires careful consideration early on but can be achieved and as a Master Developer this is a key responsibility.”
This really is a very exciting development and we look forward to sharing more about this project and our involvement in helping to create a wonderfully biodiverse setting that will benefit generations to come.