Lancashire based Ainscough Strategic Land (ASL) has captured its first major acquisition in the south of England by securing a 400 acre urban extension site on the eastern edge of Swindon.
The site of mainly agricultural land has already been identified by Swindon Borough Council, through the Core Strategy consultation exercise, as an area for development because of its ideal location on the edge of the urban area and close to existing services.
The proposed Eastern Villages represents Swindon Borough Council’s largest and most ambitious sustainable extension. Catering for up to 8,000 new houses, it will be designed as a series of new distinct villages, each with their own individual identities, which will be linked together by green spaces and key infrastructure. Each village is likely to have a centre, potentially for new community, employment and educational uses. The site that ASL has secured in an agreement with its private land-owner has been allocated in the Core Strategy for a new sustainable, mixed use community and the site controlled by ASL represents a substantial portion of the whole SUE (sustainable urban extension).
Paul Martin, Managing Director at Ainscough Strategic Land, said: “We’re delighted to have secured this opportunity through this partnership. We are now in the exciting position of being able to masterplan the site to deliver a genuine, mixed use new community.”
The company hopes to submit a planning application for outline consent on the site once all the results of its forthcoming consultation are in and once the views of key stakeholders have been analysed.
Gordon Isgrove, Land and Development Director at the Bristol office of GVA, the UK’s largest independent commercial property adviser, is representing the landowner and will continue to work closely with ASL throughout the masterplanning process.
He says, “The partnership with ASL means that we are now in a position to enable consultation and masterplanning to move forward with certainty for an area that is key to Swindon’s vision for the Eastern Villages.”
Ainscough Strategic Land has grown rapidly since it was established in October 2007, following the sale of Ainscough Crane Hire by entrepreneur Martin Ainscough.
The company specialises in the acquisition, master-planning and promotion of land and property for sustainable development across the UK. ASL’s growing portfolio funded by its own capital resources includes land in Chester, Durham, Warwickshire, Selby, Shropshire and Leicestershire.
The firm now controls over 1100 acres of land across the country which has the potential to deliver more than 8000 houses and 600,000 sq ft of commercial floor space.
