Our approach
We genuinely believe this can be a positive addition to Maybourne Rise: well-designed homes set within a green framework, real benefits for the people already living here, and better connections to the green space nearby.
If you are interested in helping shape what comes forward, we would love to hear from you. The more we work together, the better the result will be for everyone.
Some people will feel that this site should not be developed at all. That is a completely valid position to hold, and telling us so is a legitimate response to this consultation.
Being against the principle does not close the conversation. We can still talk. We can still look hard at any impacts you are worried about, and we can still make this a better scheme by working through them together.
Planning policy has moved on, and we believe the principle of a development of this kind on this site is now one that can be supported. That is why we are bringing it forward at this time. Given that, we would far rather shape it openly and well, with the people who live nearby, than present a finished scheme and hope for the best.
Maybourne Rise is a quiet, green and well-kept place, and we do not take that for granted. A new development will not be a copy of what is already here, and it would be wrong to pretend it could be.
What we can do is respond to the qualities that make this place what it is: the trees and greenery, the sense of calm, and the way homes sit in their landscape. Those are the things we want to carry into the design.
We see this as a design-led opportunity, not simply a plot of houses. One of the things we are most interested in is permeability: making it easy and pleasant to move through the site on foot, and improving pedestrian access across this part of Maybourne Rise rather than closing it off.
Good design here is as much about the spaces between the homes, and the routes through them, as it is about the homes themselves.
Next to our site, Quinn Estates is bringing forward a larger development on the neighbouring Sutton Green Golf Course. As part of that scheme they are creating a SANG directly alongside our boundary.
A SANG, or Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace, is a managed area of natural green space created specifically for people to walk and enjoy. It gives residents somewhere pleasant and accessible to spend time outdoors, and helps take recreational pressure off more sensitive protected habitats nearby.
We are in conversation with Quinn Estates about improving the connections between the two sites, so that residents of Maybourne Rise could have the chance to enjoy recreational walks in that green space. It is early days, but it is exactly the kind of wider benefit that thoughtful, joined-up design can unlock.
Whether you support the idea, oppose it, or sit somewhere in between, your comments help us understand this place and shape the scheme.