Things do seem to finally be stirring with regard to the Chilton Woods Development, due to deliver hundreds of new houses on green fields to the north of Sudbury.
A number of drilling rigs have started to drill holes in the earth around the site, and Babergh is holding a meeting for Parish Councils and other interested parties next week.
So far no sight has been seen of any executives from the developers, Redrow. Up to now the company has preferred to approach the community through a specialist consultancy firm rather than by direct contact. I suppose that they would argue that this enables them to get on with what they do best (i.e. building), while leaving the consultation to ‘experts’. However their lack of personal engagement to date is rather worrying to me, and to one or two others, and is in marked contrast to the approach taken by their ill-fated predecessors, Ashwell Homes. Ashwell’s managers and directors took a really keen interest in engaging with local organisations, councils etc. Unfortunately despite a long period of consultation that stretched over several years, they never actually managed to put in for planning permission let alone build anything!
Watching Redrow’s presentation for investment analysts on their website was quite instructive. Recently things have been pointing in the right direction for the company. Their profitability has been improving after some years when they made a loss, but their borrowings have risen due to a marked increase in land purchase. I note that under 10% of their recently built homes fall within the ‘social housing’ category. The Chilton Woods development could change this a little since some 30% of homes to be build there should, according to Babergh’s rules, be ‘affordable’.
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