Lancaster Cohousing Spring 2010

Want more community? To live more sustainably?

*Eco-homes and workspace still available in our project*

The design of our eco-cohousing project at Forge
Bank, Halton near Lancaster has been completed.
Most homes have been reserved, but you can still be part of it!

Join us for eco and community living including:
- private eco-homes built to cutting edge environmental standards
- workshop and office space
- shared communal activities and facilities
- plenty of car-free outdoor space

Our Project

Forge Bank in Halton near Lancaster will be an
intergenerational cohousing community. The
project will consist of 34 eco-homes, communal
buildings and Halton Mill. The layout is designed
to optimise social interaction.

We plan for the project to be a cutting edge
example of sustainable design, for both living
and work, and will have close links to the local communities.

Our community will be built on trust, respect,
friendship and understanding rather than rules and regulations.

Who are we?

Lancaster Cohousing Company Ltd is a
not-for-profit company. Full members of the
company will be the future residents and make all
decisions by consensus in monthly meetings.

We currently consist of 31 adults, 4 teenagers
and 8 children (as of April 2010).

What is Cohousing?

Cohousing is a housing development that balances
the advantages of private homes with the benefits
of shared facilities and connections with your
neighbours. It is designed to encourage both
social contact and individual space, and is
organised, planned and managed by us, the residents.

The private homes contain all the features of
conventional homes, but they are clustered around
a common house with shared facilities such as a
dining room, play areas, guest rooms, workshops and laundry.

Residents take responsibility for communal
activities, such as maintenance, cooking,
cleaning, etc. This helps foster community
relationships and minimises our costs.

Families

Cohousing benefits families in particular ways:
- car free outdoor space - great for children
- children and young people benefiting from mixing with people of all ages
- fantastic new skate park, playground and recreational facilities in Halton

Eco Living

Our homes have been designed to the
internationally respected Passivhaus standard and
will be so well insulated they will only need a
single radiator, powered by a single community
biomass boiler. Electricity consumption will be
minimised, and will come from solar photovoltaic
panels and the proposed hydro-electric scheme at Halton.

Sustainable transport will be enabled by a
community car share scheme, bike friendly
facilities and easy access to public transport.

Managed Workspace

Halton Mill will be providing 1000 square metres
of serviced business space in a renovated mill
building. It will comprise of a mixture of fully
serviced workshops, offices and studios. The
facility has consent for offices and light industrial use.

It is expected that the building will become
fully operational during 2011 although some
workshop space and storage will be possible before then.

Forge Bank Site

Our 6 acre site is set in a beautiful rural
setting alongside the River Lune on the edge of
the village of Halton. The address will be: Forge
Bank, Mill Lane, Halton, Lancs, LA2 6ND.

The south facing slope overlooking the River Lune
is ideal for building PassivHaus homes and there
is plenty of green space for everyone to enjoy.

Halton Village

Halton Village has a school, shops, doctors
surgery, pub and is currently building a
multi-use recreational area at the Community
Centre including a toddler play area, older
children adventure area, a multi games area for
team play, and a refurbished skate/bmx facility.

It is 3 miles from Lancaster City Centre which
can be easily accessed by a riverside cycle path or regular buses.

The Halton Carbon Positive project created in
partnership with Lancaster Cohousing, Halton
Community Association and LESS has recently won
up to £500,000 to deliver a series of low carbon initiatives in the village.

Find out more.

There is lots more information on our website.
www.lancastercohousing.org.uk

If you have further questions please email: info@lancastercohousing.org.uk

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• community
• eco-homes
• cohousing
• sustainable
• eco-building
• PassivHaus
• intergenerational
• Lancashire
• Halton
• Lancaster
• consensus
• intentional community

[NormyPie]

Wow! Very mixed feelings about this, ranging from 'what a fantastic project' to 'that lovely little quiet spot by the river won't be quiet any more'. I'm also really surprised Halton village has taken to the idea - when I lived there, residents had a great deal of trepidation about the Shared Housing Scheme, and it was only available to Halton residents/close connections. To have so many non-Lancastrians in the scheme is really surprising. Also, it's HALTON not Lancaster! LOL! All the best! :o)

[FrancesBowen]

@NormyPie Thanks for your comments. We won't be "Lancaster Cohousing" - when we move there it will be called "Forge Bank, Halton" which is historically what the site was called. We hope our scheme is much more sympathetic to the site, current users and wildlife than the plans of previous developers.

[DawnHomeopath]

8 months on from this exchange of comments, I am thrilled to report that building is about to commence now that we have full planning permission. The designs are very sensitive to the environment and we are looking forward to moving into our beautiful Passiv Hauses in 2012. Our revamped website is about to be launched in a week or so. Check out the latest.

Dawn - one of the lucky residents.

[NormyPie]

@FrancesBowen Yes, it's great that you've got that site - I recognised quite a few people from the vid and I know they're all the sort of people who are sympathetic to the environment - it's going to be a good use of the old place.

[urbazewski]

I'm glad to see your project moving forward on such a lovely site.

[MrEnergyCzar]

I converted my home to a net-zero solar powered home that uses no oil or gas....