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Straw bale village planned for Cambridge district |
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22 Feb 2015, 6:14 PM
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An environmentally-friendly ‘eco village’, with up to 50 homes made from recycled straw bales could soon be built on the edge of Cambridge, following talks between the Council and members of a community group.
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South Cambridgeshire District Council has been in talks with the Cambridge Living Future Community, which is looking for a 15-acre site on which to build a new community.
They are currently looking at a number of sites to the northern and southern fringes of the city where they could build a self-sustainable village, complete with agricultural land to grow their own food.
Damien Clements is part of the project’s steering group, and founded the project. He said: “Last week we met with the South Cambs District Council, and asked them to help us to search for site options. At the moment we don’t have a particular piece of land, but they have said they like our ideas. We are aiming for 50 homes for about 150 people, so a small village. We are looking at sites on the urban fringe, so it’s not going to be a rural village per se, as we would like to provide homes for people who work centrally, and allow them to commute using green options.”
The council is one of 11 in the country given ‘Right to Build Vanguard’ status by the government, and received £50,000 to encourage self-build projects.
Mr Clements, who works as a ‘functional medical practitioner’ at the not-for-profit Cambridge Health Clinic on Oxford Road, said the village would be constructed by volunteers, who could then receive equity in the finished homes.
However the finished properties will ‘locked’ at below market value, in a bid to combat Cambridge’s rising cost of living.
Mr Clements said: “We do want to be open to all, including those in receipt of benefits, who will be able to rent homes within the community as well. We’re looking to generate our own energy, and deal with our own waste and water, and we are looking to provide an area amongst the homes so we can all produce our own food.”
The group hopes to build the homes out of sustainable materials, using timber frames and straw bales as insulation. They will be oriented facing the sun in order to capitalise on thermal energy, while compost toilets will be used to reduce waste.
Approximately a third of the village will be reserved as agricultural land, to allow the group to grow its own food.
Mr Clements said: “We want to have a community hub in the middle with guest accommodation, a health clinic, work space and an area that the wider community can use as well. In the middle of the homes there would be no traffic, and generally the parking is on the periphery. The concept is to have a car-sharing club, so there would be many fewer cars than in a normal village.”
The group currently has around 20 local families interested in the project, and is looking at sites in Sawston, Harston, Comberton and Waterbeach.
Mr Clements said: “Once a piece of land is obtained we can move towards planning immediately. We’re talking about six to 12 months before we are at a position where we can be completing our planning application.”
The group holds monthly open meetings at the Cambridge Health Clinic for anyone interested in finding out more.
They also have a website at www.clfcvillage.org.
Credits:: Cambridge News
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