Home Group, the owners of Victoria House recently held a public consultation event for local residents to share their new proposals. For those who couldn’t make either drop-in session I have some photos of the exhibits to give people an idea of what they are planning.

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The design splits the bulk into two buildings which allows sunlight into the back windows of the flats on the Church Hill Road side. The height gradually steps up to a maximum ten-storeys.

Speaking to residents, they seem to have three main areas of concern; the height, parking and the colour of the bricks used. Whether people like the height will be somewhat subjective. Some people will look at the family houses to the north and south and want this design to be closer to that skyline, others will not mind the bold design and prefer the fact that more homes will be available.

IMG_2752Victoria House is well served by buses, but a considerable distance from a railway station so is not necessarily as appealing as other developments for young commuters. Parking therefore, is going to need careful consideration. The brickwork was chosen to strike a balance between the colour of the buildings on each corner and a light colour that will weather well.

Home Group have promised to consider all feedback before finalising their design and presenting it to the council for planning. Please do let me know what you think. We all want this development to go ahead as soon as possible but it needs to be the right design for decades to come.