Drayton Garden Villager

Former England and Surrey cricketer Mark Butcher officially opened housebuilder Weston Homes’ new Fortis development at Drayton Garden Village.Fortis is a high specification and luxurious collection of 89 two, three, four and five bedroom houses set within the Drayton Garden Village scheme. The opening came just 10 months after construction of the first houses began.

When re-development of the former Air Traffic Control Centre was first mooted, local people urged Inland Homes to seek outline planning permission for family homes with decent sized rear gardens as well as flats. Inland Homes listened to local people.

Mark Butcher and the Mayor of Hillingdon, Councillor Mary O’Connor, marked the official launch of Fortis by cutting the ribbon in front of the show home complex.

In tribute to the illustrious military history of the site, a life-size replica Spitfire was also on display, before the launch concluded with a spectacular firework display. Many local people remember how a real Spitfire once stood guard at the entrance gates

Bob Weston, chairman and chief executive of Weston Homes, who is pictured right with Mark Butcher, told the assembled guests: “Fortis is an exciting new launch for Weston Homes in West London, offering sustainable homes and creating a new community at Drayton Garden Village which should appeal to everyone.”

A second phase of 88 one and two-bedroom apartments within Drayton Garden Village will be available to purchase at Fortis later this year.

Potential buyers can view a variety of show homes at Fortis by visiting the sales and marketing suite, which is open between 10 am and 5 pm daily or visit www.western-homes.com/fortis.

Issue 4 March 2012

First family homes launched

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An innovative combined heat and power (CHP) energy centre is now under construction at Drayton Garden Village close to Porters Way.

The energy centre is being built under a £4 million contract, the result of collaboration between Inland Homes plc and the sustainable energy business of leading energy company E.ON. It is being developed entirely from a private sector initiative without any public sector involvement through a local authority or public sector agency.

Built by Inland Homes, it is being designed and fitted out and operated by EON. Its design and construction will focus on low carbon operation and, unusually, it has been planned from the start to serve a genuinely mixed use development. As well as apartment buildings, which are the more usual application for CHP, the energy centre’s district heating network will include private houses and apartments, affordable homes, a care home, retail outlets and commercial uses.

Early success with the remediation meant that the first houses could be started in April, leading the way for the start of the CHP energy centre.

Mark Gilpin, planning director of Inland Homes, said: “Our commitment to sustainability covers every aspect of the site, from ground remediation right through to the design of sustainable homes in which our residents will be genuinely happy to live their lives.

“We believe that with E.ON we have found a partner to match our own level of commitment and working together will ensure that the energy needs of Drayton Garden Village will set a standard of sustainable supply.”

Residents will receive substantial benefit from the new CHP energy centre. There will be no individual gas boilers on the site. Each home will contain an innovative Heat Interface Unit (HIU) to control heating and hot water, so reducing maintenance costs and allowing customers to switch their heating on and off via a mobile telephone – if they are on holiday, for instance.

Hot water is stored in a highly insulated central tank in the energy centre and pumped out when needed through a factory-insulated pipe heat network. Overall, this is a low carbon solution that will be no more expensive to run than a traditional gas system. Boiler replacement

and serving costs are saved as the energy centre and its equipment are operated and maintained by E.ON. The company also voluntarily adopts and publishes g u a r a n t e e d standards of service and a fair pricing policy so that customers receive

the same service, if not better, than they would if they had a traditional gas supply.

The CHP energy centre at Drayton Garden Village illustrates the future of low carbon energy generation, ironically on a site that used to operate an old-fashioned district heating system to provide hot water for the Air Traffic Control Centre.

Projects such as Drayton Garden Village are important to achieving the UK’s overall commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. E.ON is a leading energy solutions company and has been able to apply the lessons learnt from early CHP systems installed elsewhere to ensure that the design at Drayton Garden Village will play its full part in achieving carbon reductions.

Jeremy Bungey, head of community energy at E.ON, said: “We believe that these decentralised energy centres are a vital tool in reducing the UK’s carbon emissions and will genuinely help people to lead more sustainable lives. At Drayton Garden Village both the mix of buildings drawing the heat and power as well as our private sector partnership with Inland Homes plc are something special and we look forward to generating power from the energy centre.”

Leading the way on energy-saving and costs to householders

Drayton Garden Village offers a low carbon solution for modern living. Hot water is pumped out through a factory-insulated pipe heat network. The Mayor of Hillingdon Councillor Mary O’Connor, right, inspects the pipes with Stephen Wicks, centre, chief executive of Inland Homes and, left, Sean Milner, senior project delivery manager of E.ON.

The combined heat and power energy centre might look bland but it will be a powerful addition in delivering sustainable energy.

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When those living around Drayton Garden Village were asked what they wanted to be included on the new development, many suggested a care home so that older people could remain in the area.

At the first public exhibitions just three years ago local people suggested a lifetime development where people could enjoy living in the area from a young age to senior citizenship.

With Inland Homes having secured a detailed planning permission to build an 80-bedroom care home, construction is scheduled to begin this year.

A locally-based, family-owned specialist operator Gold Care Homes has purchased the site and it will be the company’s second care home in the in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Brackenbridge is a 36-bedroom purpose-built residential care home in South Ruislip.

Gold Care Homes, with its head office in The Crossway, Uxbridge, currently

operates 13 care homes, predominantly in the South East of England. Privately owned by the Gidar family, Gold Care Homes was established in 1999.

Gold Care Homes provide the highest quality care in a safe and comfortable environment. They are keen to add single en-suite purpose built care homes to their group.

The Gidar brothers said: “We are very excited about our plans for the new care home at Drayton Garden Village where a complete range of care will be provided including residential, nursing, frail elderly and dementia registrations. Respite care will also be available on a short-term basis.”

For more information contact: info@goldcarehomes.com

Community involvement shapesDrayton Garden VillageLocal people wanted a care home

When Inland Homes invited local people to become involved in the naming of road names within Drayton Garden Village, the idea grew on a number of people.

One of those very keen to name names was Marlane Hearn, who lives a stone’s throw from the site in Briar Way.

She explained: “I have always loved the names of the roads in Yiewsley and West Drayton as they cover all the trees and shrubs and are so much nicer than the usual town street names. For a new and exciting village such as this I feel strongly that it should fit in with the existing areas. I was pleased to note that Inland Homes are proposing a botanical theme.

“My father was born almost 100 years ago in Horton Lane and he would tell me of those days when the area was very much more rural and children would wander all across what is now Stockley Park. It would be nice to reflect that rural nature by using names of plants which they would have been familiar with.”

Marlane suggested the use of British wild flowers with meadow and woodland flowers.

Her choice for meadow flowers included buttercup, daisy, forget-me-not, meadowsweet, cowslip and poppy. She also favoured bluebell, primrose and foxglove.

Inland has now agreed the following street names with the London Borough of Hillingdon: Foxglove Close, Bluebell Terrace, Summer Drive, Autumn Way, Penny Royal Lane, Four Seasons’ Terrace, Evergreen Drive, Winter Green Boulevard and Spring Promenade.

An elevation of Gold Care Homes’ latest development at Drayton Garden Village.

A keen gardener, Marlane Hearn is delighted that she played a part in naming Foxglove Close and Bluebell Terrace.

Green-fingered Marlane names names

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The Mayor of Hillingdon, Councillor Mary O’Connor, has planted a tree at Drayton Garden Village to mark the official opening of the development.

The tree marks the first avenue of trees on the central boulevard and is a significant

milestone for the developer, Inland Homes, which is regenerating the site to create a low carbon community with outstanding environmental credentials. The site has planning for 773 new homes, a primary healthcare facility, a nursing home,

a community facility and a variety of commercial premises.

Stephen Wicks, chief executive of Inland Homes, said: “The development is now moving on significantly and we are proving that we are up to the challenge of making the transition happen with the minimum of environmental damage and all-round disruption.

“We have demolished over 400,000 sq ft of buildings and the remediation of the land has been carried out almost entirely on site, avoiding over 3,000 lorry movements on local roads and many tonnes of dirty spoilt going to landfill.

“The combined heat and power energy centre is coming out of the ground almost as quickly as the first houses. The energy centre is set to provide a low carbon solution for the new development.

“Drayton Garden Village is fulfilling a demanding criteria. It offers a low carbon solution for developing homes sustainably and, with its environmental achievements, provides a genuine vision of the way forward for development.”

Tree-lined boulevard underway

Moving in soon In the next few weeks 23 three, four and five-bedroom affordable homes will be ready for occupation at Drayton Garden Village. Pictured below are some of the new affordable properties.

Catalyst Housing, a non-profit making organisation named as Affordable Housing Provider of the Year 2009, purchased land for 59 homes in the north-east corner of the site.

The London Borough of Hillingdon will have nomination rights to the 40 homes to rent. To apply for the 19 shared ownership homes, applicants will need to be living or working within the London Borough of Hillingdon. Terms and conditions will apply. Those interested should contact 0845 601 7729.

Opening up to public access Work to open Winter Garden Boulevard – the main access to Drayton Garden Village from Porters Way – has started. So, the public will shortly be able to drive and walk onto Drayton Garden Village.

It will mean that the public will, for the first time in over 60 years, have access to the land.

Landscaping work on the site has already started too.

John is your local contactJohn Embleton, who lives with his family very close to the Drayton Garden Village site, is Inland’s local contact point if members of the public are worried about issues relating to the re-development of the site.

He has been working on the site since 1984 when he was appointed building services engineer. If you need to contact him, his email address is: draytongardenvillage.live.co.uk

Updated web siteThe Drayton Garden Village

web site was launched in 2011.

It has now been updated.

Go to:

www.draytongardenvillage.com

Any comments on The Villager?This is the fourth edition of The Drayton Garden Villager. It is a publication

which is circulated to residents of West Drayton to keep them informed.

Let us know you comments. Send them to: vic.angell@tfa-ltd.co.uk

This newsletter is printed on paper made from wood pulp

harvested from renewable forests.

Councillor Mary O’Conner, the Mayor of Hillingdon, helps plant the first tree in the central boulevard of Drayton Park Village. She is pictured with Stephen Wicks, the chief executive of Inland Homes.

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