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Click to view a larger version of this masterplan

The site of the former Fountainhead Brewery in Halifax, West Yorkshire was acquired by Gleeson with a view to building a balanced mix of housetypes including terraced, mews/semi-detached properties, apartments and 2/3 storey townhouses.

For planning to be granted on this site, Gleeson Strategic Land had to prove the economic argument that the site was no longer viable as a brewery or for alternative employment purposes, and also to mitigate the impact of Peak Hour traffic movements which would be
generated from the residential scheme.

A village street theme associated with Village Squares in three key locations planned along Ovendon Wood Road formed the basis of the submitted design concept.

Touching on the history of the site, the Brewery itself was founded in the 1850s and finally closed in 1996. The 9.6 hectare site is on the side of the Ovendon Wood Valley, sloping from west to east.
 
  There are several existing buildings on the site, including a terrace of cottages and other houses, plus two Grade II listed buildings on the perimeter – The Maltings and The Long Can. To assist in the preparation of a planning application, Gleeson Strategic Land undertook a series of environmental audits of the site, to identify issues such as land contamination, hydrological factors and ecological impact.  
 


Although the land is within the Green Belt and is classified as ‘employment land’, Calderdale Borough Council eventually agreed to grant outline planning permission for 296 houses.

Demonstrating that the site was now viable for residential development involved careful planning of the access routes into and within the development, a task complicated by the considerable changes in level from one side of the site to the other.

 
 

The solution was to work with the existing contours when laying out the road plan, to minimise excess cutting and embanking.

To protect the views from the surrounding valley and to soften the edge of the built area there are landscape buffers and lower housing densities on the periphery.
Existing public bridleways and footpaths will be accommodated within the layout.

The Masterplan envisages that the existing watercourse will be de-culverted and used to create a pond and water feature in the central greenspace.

Fountainhead Brewery promises to be an appealing place to live for residents of all ages.

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