Linmere

We do this through living the detail, through ensuring we design a cohesive place where people want to live and will recommend, and through creating a premium product for developers to invest in.

The site is owned in Joint Venture by Lands Improvement, Aviva and the Diocese of St Albans, and governed by a Collaboration and Equalisation Agreement with Lands Improvement appointed project coordinator.

In 2014 we achieved outline planning permission for 5,150 residential homes, 2 million sq ft of commercial and employment accommodation, three new schools and 90 acres of open space. The permission was secured prior to adoption of the Local Plan which proposed the allocation of this land and removal from the greenbelt.

We were able to unlock the scheme via instigating the delivery of Junction 11a of the M1, the A5-M1 Link Road, and the Woodside Connection.

We chose to build community assets from the outset, ensuring the first residents benefitted from day one and to kick-start the creation of the community. These assets include The Farmstead – a collection of buildings comprising community halls, a café, retail units and adventure play, as well as Linmere Park, our first open space and the first primary school which is open.

With investment in place and the quality of our approach to servicing development land, we have been able to attract strong demand from developers.

To date we have delivered serviced parcels to accommodate 1,500 residential units, with 750 currently occupied.

Lidl acquired over 60-acres of commercial development land, building a 24,500 sq ft store and a 1m sq ft Regional Distribution Centre, creating over 1,500 news jobs in the area.

Development preparation and infrastructure undertaken

We are delivering all strategic infrastructure including:

• Key spine roads and primary on-site street networks and access junctions
• Parklands, play areas, sports facilities, allotments, orchard and community facilities
• All utility connections, SUDS solutions and drainage
• Earthworks
• Farmstead community hub and retail units

Placemaking, stewardship and legacy

Placemaking is at the centre of what we do at Linmere, creating a new community and a genuinely great place to live, and ultimately, driving value.

Key elements of this have been:

• Delivering community assets first: The Farmstead (community halls, a café, retail units and play area), a new supermarket, Linmere Park with its pump track, playgrounds, running and walking paths, quality planting and landscaping and green, open space.
• Focusing on delivering a public realm that works for everyone and not just one that meets planning requirements.
• Recognising that physical assets are not enough – we need to activate the spaces and enable people to use them –and employing a Community Activation Officer for this purpose.
• Engaging with residents via our Community and Engagement Officer, understanding what they really want at Linmere.
• Designing for people and taking the local authority on the journey to help them understand what this means.
• Ensuring that we think about the long-term both through pragmatic design and stewardship in partnership with The Land Trust.

Sustainability

We have set out to create a place where everything that is needed is within reach via non-car-based means of transport  - where residents choose not to take the car because they prefer not to.

We are still on this journey, ensuring we design for walkable and cyclable neighbourhoods, and working with the Council to unlock innovative solutions for car clubs and public transport.

As testament to this we have recently been awarded the highest ‘Excellent’ award by ModeShift TravelWise – the first development in the UK to achieve this.

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