One of the UK’s most beautiful towns will soon become the site of a £370million neighbourhood composed of timber homes.
Environmental campaigning firm Human Nature has received the green light to rejuvenate a derelict industrial estate in Lewes, East Sussex.
The South Downs National Park Authority approved the company’s plans to develop 685 properties on a 20-acre site near the town constructed using an unusual combination of timber and a new hemp-based concrete.
The bold new project will create an entirely new community, the plans show, with hundreds of homes, a public area, other buildings and even a river walk.
And the neighbourhood could become a blueprint for the future of town development in the UK.
Human Nature has employed a team of a dozen architects to design the neighbourhood, which will include 200 affordable homes.
Green-conscious developers will also prioritise non-car owners and provide electric car hire, with a “co-mobility hub” also providing a shuttle bus and electric bike service.
The semi-self-sufficient site will also come equipped with on-site recycling, composting facilities, waste management and an “urban farming and community gardening strategy”.
Locals hope the project will breathe new life into the town, and Jonathan Smales, one of Human Nature’s ex-Greenpeace co-founders alongside Michael Manolson, has said it has been devised to counter mainstream property development practices.
Mr Smales said: “The current mainstream model of development is catastrophic, baking in deeply unsustainable fabric, infrastructure and transport, fuelling the climate and nature crises; it also creates social divisions and exacerbates loneliness.
“We aim to show that living sustainably can be a joy, not an exercise in self-denial, made far easier by the design of neighbourhoods.
“We’re working with an amazing team, bringing together best practices in sustainable design, urbanism and construction to provide a new breakthrough model with the Phoenix.”
South Downs National Park Authority approved the plans on the condition that issues with the local highway are solved.
The highway issues include local traffic mitigation and must be sorted within six months for Human Nature to receive full permission.
The initial approval was given nearly a year after the detailed application was filed on February 7, 2023.
