An exciting new initiative for Stourbridge enabling community participation in the acquisition of land for the development of sustainable, affordable, inspiring homes designed and built by the people who will live in them.


If we can form a community that consists of Carpenters, plumbers and electricians as well as solicitors, architects and surveyors we will be able to build beautiful ecologically, physically, environmentally and socially sustainable homes for a fraction of the cost of buying an off the shelf "baked bean tin" house

£30,000,000 for self build communities

The government is making available £30,000,000 as a revolving door funding mechanism to help enable self-build communities get started!

Very low cost self build home

nice interior, shame about the exterior!

But then for £21,000 what does one expect!








http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/24/homes-self-build

Grain Silo house



















http://www.trendir.com/house-design/silo-house-in-utah-grain-silos-rock.html

A Colorado Straw Bale Home














http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/article.aspx?id=2147484518

locality.org.uk

Watch this short video about Locality.org.uk: a movement that supports communities that are ambitious for change

http://vimeo.com/23478020

Thank you Anna Minton, my thoughts exactly!


“This is the way to create properly mixed communities, but it is the opposite of the current government policy of selling off land, property and ‘local-authority assets’. Instead, mirroring the civic achievements of the Victorians, it would rely on ring-fencing land, property and housing for the public good. This could be done by creating trusts in local areas, supported by a planning system which laid out a blueprint for a certain amount of subsidized housing in every locality. Genuinely mixed communities, with diverse populations and a more balanced local economy, also mean more distinctive and exciting places, rather than the sterile sameness of new places today, driven by the importance of rising property values over and above any consideration” Ground Control by Anna Minton (2009: p.126)

Are we customers in this kleptomaniac society or are we actually citizens?

Read Ground Control by Anna Minton and discover how we are being sold to the profiteers...

A very readable account of how our public spaces, our birthright and our inheritance is being sold to developers by the very institutions that should be protecting it.

Essential reading for any developer, architect, town planner or anyone else who actually cares about the environment in which we live.

Cradle to cradle...

The fashion designer, Vivienne Westwood,  once replied, when asked what we can best do to live an environmentally conscious life? - "Just don't buy rubbish"

If we are really serious about building and living ecologically then we need to first change our belief system. Watch this fantastic film by the very inspiring professor Michael Braungart on the art of cradle to cradle and begin to celebrate what it means to be human...

http://www.ecobuild.co.uk/video/watch/prof-dr-michael-braungart.html

South Yorkshire Housing Association Eco Homes

This highly eco-friendly development uses state of the art renewable energy technologies including solar thermal collectors to provide hot water. Wind turbines, combined with super insulated construction, allow residents to benefit from savings on their energy bills. The development consists of 23, three  bedroom affordable homes on a sale and rent basis all with a contemporary design using locally sourced materials wherever possible.











National planning policy...

"There is a presumption in favour of sustainable development at the heart of the planning system, which should be central to the approach taken to both plan-making and decision-taking. Local planning authorities should plan positively for new development, and approve all individual proposals wherever possible."


"strong, vibrant and healthy communities, by providing an increased supply of housing to meet the needs of present and future generations; and by creating a good quality built environment, with accessible local services, that reflects community needs and supports well-being" Planning, building and the environment (March 2011)


http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningsystem/planningpolicy/presumptionfavour/

design for social sustainability

"A process for creating sustainable, successful places that promote wellbeing, by understanding what people need from the places they live and work. Social sustainability combines design of the physical realm with design of the social world – infrastructure to support social and cultural life, social amenities, systems for citizen engagement and space for people and places to evolve." The Young Foundation (July 2011)

"Drawing on a review of international experience the Young Foundation has developed a framework containing four elements that are essential to build new communities that will be successful and sustainable in the long term. These are: amenities and social infrastructure; social and cultural life; voice and influence; and space to grow" The Young Foundation (July 2011)

Check out this fantastic study by the Young Foundation of a vision for social sustainability


http://www.youngfoundation.org/files/images/Design_for_Social_Sustainability.pdf

The report of the Self Build & Government working group


More self-build will promote localism and help boost the wider economy, safeguard and create new construction jobs and help reduce carbon emissions. We will therefore work with the Government to remove the key barriers that make it difficult for many self-builders and community self-build groups to bring forward their projects. We will do this by enabling more land to be made available for self-builders; working with financial institutions and the public sector to improve the availability of development finance for self-builders; and removing regulatory barriers which are hindering more self-build developments from coming forward

http://www.nasba.org.uk/Media/NASBA2011%20Action%20Plan.pdf

How self build can save you money...











http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14125196

£60,000 eco house built in 60 days



















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDeL8yjb52g&feature=related

Straw bale social housing

The pioneers of the country’s first strawbale council houses are thrilled that their ground-breaking straw houses are catching on.


http://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/nk-straw-houses/106433.article

Sustainable social housing in Scotland


The project is made up of 34 new-build social houses and provide a variety of 1-4 bedroom dwellings.









http://inhabitat.com/grodians-is-a-vibrant-energy-efficient-social-housing-community-in-scotland/

Stourbridge brown field sites

picture courtesy of Patrick Clement
Stourbridge has large areas of brown field sites in the heart of the town desperately in need of regeneration and re- invigoration.

from BBC news...


"Ashley Vale is a self-build neighbourhood in Bristol made up of around 40 homes built on a former scaffolding yard.
In the late 1990s the site was about to be sold to a volume housebuilder. But a group of likeminded local people persuaded the council to sell them the site instead, to develop as a self-build neighbourhood.
It now has 40 environmentally-sustainable homes, some of them built entirely by the residents, others put together by builders.
"For people to work around each other on the houses is an amazing way to create a community," says Jackson Moulding, a director of the Ashley Vale Action Group.
"There are conflicts but in the end it worked out well." The reward is getting the house you want at an affordable price, he says." Self-build: Should people build their own homes? By Tom de Castella, BBC News Magazine (July 2006)


From the Guardian...



"Community Right to Build will offer local groups the chance to give the green light to new developments without specific planning applications, which "could open the door to a whole new generation of self-builders".
"Building your own home should not be the preserve of a privileged few," said (housing minister Grant) Shapps "I want to break down the barriers that many aspiring self-builders often come up against, and I have asked experts at the National Self Build Association to work with us to develop an action plan to make it easier for people to build their own homes, whether on their own or as part of a community effort to build a whole new neighbourhood." Miles Brignall, Self Build a dream home for £150,000, The Guardian (2011)


http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jan/08/self-build-dream-home

Grand Designs on 4oD

This first episode of the two part series follows Kevin over five long years as he sets out to prove that we can all have beautiful, affordable, eco homes for the same price as low cost social housing.




http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kevins-grand-design/4od
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