Barratt Homes has released the first design plans of a £1.1 million sports hall and community centre which will be built in the village of Marston Moretaine, adjacent to the housebuilder's Marston Park development.

Construction work is due to begin in March next year and is expected to take around nine months. The brand new sports hall will enable the local cricket club to relocate and will also include multi use sports pitches for the benefit of local residents.

Once completed, the community centre will become Marston Moreteyne Parish Council's new home and it will be managed by them for community use.

The architectural plans of these facilities have a contemporary design which aims to compliment the nearby Forest Centre at Marston Vale Millennium Country Park.

The provision of the community centre, sports hall and sports pitches were made as part of the planning agreement between Central Bedfordshire Council, Barratt Homes and its sister company David Wilson Homes, which is also building at the Marston Park development.

Managing Director for Barratt Homes, Andrew Swindell said "As a five star rated housebuilder we're not only passionate about outstanding new homes but building strong communities too.

"Our planning team has been working very closely with the Parish Council and Central Bedfordshire Council to ensure that the new sports hall and community centre will become a valuable asset in the village."

As part of the associated planning agreement, the two developers will also provide more than £1.2 million in contributions to local education services, healthcare, public art and public transport and cycleways.

Marston Park will also see an investment of approximately £100,000 on public art throughout the development. There will be a consultation process which will invite neighbourhood groups to come forward with their ideas to the developer, Parish or Central Bedfordshire Council.

This is not the only community project Barratt Homes has been involved with. The housebuilder provided the local Thriftvale Scout Group with a large canvas tent after they needed help with new equipment. The scout group is located a short distance away from Marston Park development on Chapel Street.

Once completed Marston Park will provide around 480 new homes. The development is on Bedford Road is just off the new A421, minutes away from junction 13 of the M1. Barratt Homes currently has a range of two, three, four and five bedroom homes for sale priced from £155,000.

For more information please call the sales hotline on 0844 811 3399 open seven days a week from 8am to 9pm or log on to www.barratthomes.co.uk

For added peace of mind, buyers can also benefit from Barratt Homes' new five year warranty on fixtures and fittings in their new home at the time of purchase. Items covered at no extra cost to the buyer will include appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators, kitchen units, wardrobes, the central heating system, fires, doors, windows, drainage, the hot and cold plumbing system and even the driveway.

Barratt Homes has also calculated that its new homes are up to 50% more efficient compared to similar Victorian properties. The average energy bill is around £800 on a brand new three bedroom home, compared to more than £1,600 for a similar Victorian home - even with modern day improvements.

Energy consumption figures have been published by the Zero Carbon Hub in conjunction with NHBC Foundation and the BRE Trust, May 2012.

Note - Indicative costs and savings calculated using Zero Carbon Hub house types modelled in NHER Plan Assessor 5.3/4 (SAP2009) with projected energy costs taken from DECC published figures.

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NOTES TO EDITORS: 

1)    For further information about Barratt Homes please contact Hannah Elwell or Kayleigh Moore, Unsworth Sugden, on 01162 471777 or hannah@unsworthsugden.co.uk or kayleigh@unsworthsugden.co.uk

2)    Barratt Group sold 12,637 homes in the last financial year, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain.

3)    Barratt Group was awarded a maximum five star rating for the third consecutive year in the 2012 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey.

4)    In 2012 site managers working for Barratt Group won the highest number of NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards for a record eighth consecutive year.

5)    Barratt Group was named Housebuilder of the Year at the Housebuilder Awards 2011.

6)    Barratt Group is the only housebuilder to provide a five year warranty on the fixtures and fittings in its new build homes at the time of purchase.

7)    Images of a selection of developments are available to the media at
http://www.barrattdevelopments.co.uk/barratt/en/media/mediakit/lib