Doors open at controversial Woolton Hill housing site

First homes set for occupation December

A controversial housing development in Woolton Hill has opened its doors to visitors, with the first houses set to be occupied in December.

After losing a battle for the development to be scrapped, villagers have endured months of upheaval due to construction traffic at the Harwood Paddock site, where 49 houses were under construction.

Once a paddock in the village where wildlife and nature flourished in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the site was described by one villager as a ‘mudbath’ last October, after diggers moved in during a period of heavy rain to level the land.

East Woodhay Parish Council has been heavily involved in liaising with the site management to ensure any resulting mess and mud on village roads was cleared up and that construction traffic avoided the A343 junction, the already-congested route past village schools and a play area, and through the main body of the village.

Instead, site traffic was instructed to access and leave the site via the Wash Common and Station Road approach to Tile Barn Row.

This week, developer Bloor Homes said the first visitors had been welcomed to the development of three-, four- and five-bedroom homes, with prices starting at £425,250 for a three-bedroom detached house.

A number of the houses had already been reserved, according to Kim Willcock, regional sales director at Bloor Homes Southern.

She said: “This really does show how much these homes were needed, and how impressed our first visitors have been.”

The government’s Help to Buy scheme will assist those wanting to buy a house.

Purchasers must put down a five-per-cent deposit and 75-per-cent mortgage, with the remaining 20 per cent provided as an equity loan, interest free for five years.

As part of the planning agreement, Bloor will hand back a 0.6ha section of land to the community, with construction expected to be completed next June.