Visuals of Cheltenham town centre redevelopment site released for consultation

Published by

Peter Davison

How Cheltenham's North Place car park site could look

An idea of how Cheltenham's North Place car park site could look with 153 houses and apartments on it has been given by developer Wavensmere Homes and BBS Capital.

The firms have released computer-generated images of the proposals to coincide with a public consultation process seeking local opinions on the plans.

Designed by nationally acclaimed architects Glancy Nicholls, the companies say Arkle Court reflects "the significant opportunity for exemplary placemaking".

Cheltenham to get new houses on North Place car park

The proposals for the 75 three-bedroom three-storey townhouses, and the four-storey building containing 78 one- and two-bedroom apartments, complement and reflect the town’s regency properties.

Extending to over three acres, the redeveloped site is set to include multiple areas of high quality landscaped open space, with the opportunity for a public art installation and provision for murals to be created as part of the Cheltenham Paint Festival.

Vehicular, pedestrian and cycle access would be from North Place, less than half a mile from the University of Gloucester campus and the historic town centre.

Ben Clarke, Technical Director of Wavensmere Homes, said: “In 2013, Cheltenham Borough Council awarded planning for a large supermarket and 143 new homes for this site, but this didn’t materialise.

"Since then the development of The Brewery Quarter has created more focus and activity in this part of town and highlighted the underutilised land as an unattractive blot on the local townscape.

“Our plans for Arkle Court include both apartments and townhouses, as we want to offer young professionals, families, and older people, appropriate and attainable new homes that enable them to significantly lower their carbon footprint.

"The scheme design overcomes the various site complexities, will greatly enhance the street scene along North Place and St Margaret’s Road, and is entirely reflective of the principles of Cheltenham’s Central Conservation Area.

"We hope that Cheltenham residents will engage with the consultation process and support this brownfield regeneration proposal.”

The scheme proposals allow for a gas-free offering, with target A-rated energy performance throughout. Local, sustainable, low carbon materials will be specified, along with an array of energy saving technology including air sourced heat pumps, solar PV and centralised mechanical ventilation.

The environmental impact of the project has also been carefully considered to deliver sustainable drainage and biodiversity net gains in excess of the upcoming regulation changes. Each house is designed with dedicated parking which will be served by 7kW EV car chargers to ensure the scheme is future proofed.

Nick Spencer, Co-Founder at BBS Capital said: “This site is positioned within a highly desirable area of Cheltenham, where the rich historical context has shaped the design ethos.

"Located very close to the range of quality restaurants and shops at The Brewery Quarter, the homes being proposed here are designed to address local housing needs within an area in strong popular demand. We are pleased to have reached this key milestone in the Arkle Court design process.”

The redevelopment of the North Place car park – a central, brownfield site – will also connect Pittville Park on the one side, through North Place, to the thriving Brewery Quarter, the Lower High Street Poundland site which will see a mixed-use redevelopment, through to the cyber-tech Hub MX – opening in 2024 – and Minster Gardens.

Enhanced connectivity and walkability will cut down travel times, increase opportunities and health and wellbeing, reduce isolation, and drive economic growth.

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Wavensmere Homes is constructing three major urban regeneration schemes, located in central Birmingham, Derby city centre, and Ipswich, and has five further developments, including the £150m Wolverhampton Canalside South project – in addition to Arkle Court – in the immediate pipeline.

The Birmingham-headquartered housebuilder has around 3,500 new homes either under construction or in planning.

The public consultation process will conclude on Friday, January 5.

Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country. An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts. Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.