Grand Union Village, Northolt is one of London’s largest regeneration schemes located along a stretch of the Grand Union Canal. The scheme comprises of:
- Over 850 integrated dwellings (35% affordable)
- 550sqm of community facilities including a 280sqm crèche / nursery, 2 retail units, a restaurant and mini supermarket, medical centre and leisure facilities
- A new canal basin with 20 moorings and associated facilities – the Engineer’s Wharf marina forms the bustling heart of the Village
- Natural wildlife habitats in the ecological area, new cycle / footpath network, and 'Home Zones' create pleasant, safe and accessible residents' areas.
Construction Efficiency / Reuse of Resources
The 20 hectare Brownfield site is a former contractor's and aggregates storage depot.
- Demolition work created over 100,000 tonnes of recyclable material. 97% of materials were recycled and only 3% were sent to landfill.
- Taylor Wimpey undertook extensive bioremediation.
- We saved an estimated 22,000 lorry journeys and their associated noise and pollution by re-using and recycling materials from existing buildings on-site.
- Site levels were carefully chosen to minimise excavations for ‘basement’ car-parking and to maximise the usage of recyclable material.
Community Consultation
Grand Union Village is now a vibrant and transformational canal side community, which has been achieved through extensive community consultation:
- Taylor Wimpey set up 5 focus groups during the master-planning stage. These fed into a steering group that eventually became the basis for the ‘Grand Union Village Community Development Trust’.
- The formation of the Community Development Trust (CDT) followed a request that emerged for the community to have an ongoing role in the development of their new community.
- The mission for the Trust was agreed: 'The Grand Union Village Community Development Trust seeks a sustainable and inclusive community for those living and working in the Village and surrounding areas, through supporting economic, recreational and environmental initiatives.'
- The CDT’s activities include:
- Managing property (and land) for the social and recreational benefit of the local community – community facilities and public open space.
- Supporting or managing new initiatives that further the mission of Grand Union Village, such as: Car Share Club and initiatives with the Housing Associations
- Enabling the creation of new training and employment through encouraging local residents by inviting training providers and employment guidance agencies to the Village, encouraging new business start-up.
- Long term stewardship was an early concept, to empower local residents in all tenures to have the ability to control what happens to the development and its environs.
- Taylor Wimpey has contributed £155,000 to the setting up of the Trust as well as building the community facilities.
Design
Grand Union Village has been recognised for its quality of design in a joint initiative by the Prince’s Foundation, CABE and the HBF for adopting community design principles that contribute to energy efficiency and help improve the quality of life for people who live there. Hank Dittmar, Chief Executive of The Prince’s Foundation commented:
“We were impressed with the integration of community facilities at Grand Union Village along with a move away from car-dependent housing. The design of the development also creates a real sense of place with care taken to provide open space and accessible amenities to the residents…”