After receiving an anonymous letter from a concerned RO reader containing many assumptions about the St Just Self Build Development’s delays, Roseland Online contacted the relevant authorities and received this helpful, in-depth reply.
“Building work has now started on the delivery of 6 of the proposed 8 houses on the site. The first task was to erect a security fence around the part of the site that contains the drainage field belonging to the adjacent properties, to ensure that this area is not disturbed. Excavation works to clear the site and create an access started shortly after and the first strip foundations have now been laid. Due to technical issues it was not possible to bury the overhead electric cables ahead of the excavation work being started. A large swing shovel digger was required at the beginning to clear the site and excavate and unfortunately this accidentally hit the overhead power cable causing a short interruption to the power supply in the village. However, smaller diggers are now being used for the foundation works and these are being operated away from the power cables, which are now programmed to be put underground shortly after Christmas. The first blockwork will start this weekend.”
They were also kind enough clarify the misunderstandings in the anonymous letter about the reason for the delay in the transfer.
“Due to minor technical issues with the transfer of the land, the St Just CLT granted a build licence to the self builders to enable them to get on site and make as much progress as possible before Christmas. It is anticipated that the transfer of the land will take place before Christmas.”
I hope this clears up any misunderstandings and has clarified this matter for all concerned.
With regards the Gerrans Hill development, the council added the following:
“The affordable housing side of Rok has been acquired by Mansell Construction; part of the Balfour Beatty Group. In terms of Gerrans – DCHA are in discussions with Mansell about the terms of completing the contracts – the hope is that they will honour the original contract in terms of spec, price and schedule. DCHA anticipate re-letting the contact to Mansell will take 2 – 3 weeks following which works to complete both schemes should take around 4 weeks – so, subject to terms being agreed, we are looking at a mid to late January handover.”
To clarify on the current activity on this site: it is Roseland Online’s understanding that this activity is the start of land movement ready for the building of the open market houses and not the continuation of the affordable housing development, as some mistakenly believe.