Computer graphic representation of the Ilfracombe CLT affordable housing proposal for the former Bicclescombe Nurseries.
Just sometimes things come together just right. This was very much the case when North Devon Council were successful in obtaining brownfield site infrastructure funding for the derelict Bicclescombe Nursery at the same time as Ilfracombe’s newly created Community Land Trust (ICLT) began looking for a first site.
That was less than 2.5 years ago and this month we are celebrating our first major milestone with planning permission granted unanimously for the development of 16 homes for social rent. These are homes which the Trust will own in perpetuity for the benefit of the people of Ilfracombe. They will be built, delivered, and managed by our partner Housing Association, Aster. There will be no right to buy and allocation will be via Devon Home Choice to applicants who meet the criteria in our ICLT local lettings plan.
If all goes well, pre-commencement work will start in earnest from September and we hope to see steady progress thereafter.
A committed group of folks have worked diligently to bring everything together despite facing tight timescales and the constraints of a difficult site which had defeated developers over the last 20 years.
We are especially grateful to Helen Bond and her team from North Devon Council who made the project possible; Steve Watson from Middlemarch and Cllr Terry Elliott who created Ilfracombe Community Land Trust, which means we can develop housing for social rent; Matt Steart from Woodward Smith architects; the team from Aster, who will continue to be the partners of the land trust; and finally the volunteers who make up the Board of the Community Land Trust, who have had to learn a lot quickly about development.