For Rural Housing Week, Harriet English, Plunkett’s Deputy Chief Executive, explains why creating thriving communities should be at the heart of every new rural development.
When new housing is proposed in a rural community, the conversation is usually about numbers: how many homes to be built, what percentage is to be affordable housing, how many more cars will be using local roads, will schools and GPs cope with increased registrations? All of these questions are vital and it’s important that they are addressed responsibly. But here at Plunkett UK we are asking another question: what will be the glue that connects new and existing residents and what will hold the community together?
This is a question that has often been missed in the past, but times are changing. And leaders in the housing industry are placing greater emphasis on placemaking – what the ingredients are that makes a community thrive, beyond building houses.
Plunkett’s mission is to create thriving, resilient and inclusive communities through the community-owned business model. And in partnership with housebuilders, strategic land promoters and master planners we are embedding community ownership into new community plans at the earliest opportunity.
Kingsbrook in Aylesbury is an award-winning, nature-first housing development by Barratt Redrow
Woodgate Community Shop
Our strategic partners, Barratt Redrow, Wates Developments, Thakeham Homes, and Lands Improvement recognise that community infrastructure needs to truly reflect community need. And who better to help support this mission than the 900-strong community business sector – serving the needs of their local communities day in, day out.
One example of this approach in action can be seen at the Woodgate development in Pease Pottage, West Sussex. Working alongside Thakeham Homes and residents from an early stage, Plunkett helped support the creation of the Woodgate Community Shop – a pioneering community-owned business that was built by the developer and gifted to the community to own and run for the long term.
The shop now provides more than everyday essentials; it acts as a social hub where new and existing residents can meet, connect and shape the future of their community together. As the first project of its kind within a new-build development, Woodgate demonstrates how community ownership can be embedded from the outset, creating a lasting legacy that supports both placemaking and community resilience.
Woodgate Community Shop opening, May 2024
Through working in partnership with developers, we engage directly with the communities that are welcoming new development in their locality and help facilitate consultation and conversation on any new community infrastructure – and how long-term, community facilities can be gifted to the community to run for years to come.
We also advocate to bring forward meanwhile use opportunities – supporting the creation of temporary retail and social space to start creating a place where people want to live and can visualise their future, as early as possible. Why should the first wave of residents wait for somewhere to go to buy essentials, or a place to have a coffee and cake with their new neighbours? Whilst a development is in progress, a community shop and café is also the perfect platform to keep everyone up to date and engaged.
We are proud that, with our placemaking partners, we are helping new communities thrive, to be resilient for the long-term and be truly inclusive places where everyone can connect and feel a sense of belonging.
New communities and new developments have an incredible opportunity – to design from scratch to embed community from day one. When done poorly, or not in partnership and consultation, a community can be suffocated before it has even begun. Done well, and with genuine co-creation, and learning from real-life, thriving community business examples, community life will flourish hand in hand with the new homes being built.
“We build homes and communities, rather than just houses and developments. This is why we are partnering with Plunkett to strengthen and improve the communities we deliver even more.
“By bringing in new businesses to our communities we will help make them more resilient, creating new job opportunities and making great places for people to both work and live in.”
David Thomas, Chief Executive of Barratt Redrow
Plunkett’s Placemaking Strategy
With a 100-year proven track record in placemaking and creating resilient, thriving and inclusive communities, Plunkett is actively exploring partnerships of a similar nature with other leading house developers in other rural settings across the UK whose values and passion for community creation align with theirs.
If you would like to find out more about our work visit our webpage by clicking the button below and get in touch with our placemaking team.
