The construction of more than 150 new homes on the upcoming Broadnook Garden Village development has begun following a groundbreaking ceremony attended by the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of Charnwood Borough Council.

Multi-award-winning Midlands developer, Cora Homes, is building its first collection of 154 homes at the garden village in Charnwood. Cora Homes is the second developer to begin work on site of the county’s first garden village, which will (eventually) be made up of 1,950 homes as well as a host of facilities including a new community hub, Broadnook Court; a brand new Broadnook Park; retirement homes, care village and primary school.

Members of the Cora Homes team met with representatives from partner firms and the Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress of Charnwood to mark the start of works on Wednesday, 31 July.

Cllr David Northage, Deputy Mayor of Charnwood, said: “It’s a real privilege to be here today to witness another step forward in bringing this dream to life.

“Charnwood Borough are immensely proud to be host to Leicestershire’s first Garden Village. This development is so exciting – a brand-new stand-alone community is being created. A community complete with every up-to-date facility to provide for modern day living.

“Cora Homes are excited and proud to be part of this amazing project, and so they should be. We wish them well and thank them for being part of the Broadnook journey.”

Steve Keenan, Construction Director at Cora Homes, said: “This is a momentous occasion for both our business and the county of Leicestershire as we commence works on this historic development.

“At Cora, our mission is to create amazing places – something we are very confident of achieving at Broadnook through our highly energy efficient homes and the mix of green spaces and community amenities.

“Broadnook is designed to meet the long-term needs of homeowners while creating much-needed infrastructure, community hubs and enterprise zones that will be a real benefit the wider area.

“We anticipate interest in our homes to be very strong given the high desirability of this unique garden suburb.”

Aside from an array of excellent quality, energy-efficient homes, Broadnook will also be home to extensive parkland, community and healthcare facilities and education centres including a 570-capacity primary school. Other additions include an early years facility, provision for a GP surgery, retirement village, shops and cafes.

More than 50% of the entire garden village will be devoted to green spaces, with other sustainable additions including car-free zones. The first five hundred trees on the twelve hectares of designated woodland space have already been planted, with thousands more to come.

Broadnook Garden Village has accessibility built into its core.  Its location on the edge of Charnwood closest to the city means it will have short, frequent bus routes, while its proximity to the M1 and A6 is anticipated to make it popular among commuters to Nottingham and Derby. The three developers Cora, Davidsons Homes and Bovis are collectively investing £750,000 into local bus services to optimise transport links – and reduce the need for unnecessary car travel.

Bert Broadhead, Director at Cora Homes, added: “We’re hugely proud to be breaking ground at Broadnook. It’s a real privilege for Cora to be working in a wonderful part of the country and we’re very excited to be bringing the Broadnook vision a step closer to reality.

“We’ve worked incredibly hard alongside our partners to bring forward a new garden village in the truest sense of the word.

“We can’t wait to see the project advance and for people to see the Cora way; that Britain’s extraordinary lack of homes can be tackled without compromise and that we can deliver new communities with very high design quality, open spaces, playing fields, facilities, a sustainable ethos and a long-term stewardship structure that ensures it is residents, and not developers, who make the key decisions for the area moving forward.”

More information on Broadnook and the developers creating the vision can be found at broadnook.co.uk

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