LOCAL developers Barratt Northampton and David Wilson South Midlands have been granted planning permission by Central Bedfordshire Council for the first phase of homes at their Marston Moretaine development. The application, which was granted in February, follows the January public consultation held at the Forest Centre on Station Road attended by over 200 local residents and paves the way for the first phase of 191 homes.

The £95 million scheme will provide a total of 480 new homes once complete, as well as new primary school buildings, community/sports facility and sports pitches, local centre, and employment park.

The development, called Marston Park, will also provide more than £1.2 million in contributions to local education services, healthcare, public art and public transport and cycleways.

By blending the style of the new homes with the village's existing architecture, Barratt will ensure that Marston Park will be subtly integrated with the surrounding area.

With a good variety of designs planned there will be homes to suit a range of needs, ranging from two-bedroom apartments to substantial five-bedroom family homes.

In addition, Barratt and David Wilson Homes will be partnering with Paradigm Housing Group to provide 130 affordable homes for the local community, delivering a mixture of both rent and shared ownership properties.

The developers are due to commence construction on the site in May with the first properties ready to view in September.

"We're delighted to announce that we have received planning permission for Marston Park" comments Ian Young, Development Director for Barratt Northampton. "We've worked closely with David Wilson Homes, the local community and Central Bedfordshire Council to produce a scheme to suit the needs of local residents and we're looking forward to starting construction and displaying our range of homes."

"Marston Moretaine offers excellent access to the M1 with the recent duelling of the A421, as well as nearby Milton Keynes and Bedford. In addition the scheme is adjacent to the popular Marston Vale Forest Centre and we are confident that the development will be very popular with the area's homebuyers."

Barratt Northampton is currently building new homes at sites across Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire and has recently launched its first Leicestershire development, Farndon Fields, in Market Harborough. The company will launch 11 new sites in 2011, which will provide 1,435 homes for the region worth over £268 million.

Barratt Northampton currently has two further sites in Bedfordshire, Greenkeepers Mews on Greenkeepers Road, Biddenham Vale, Bedford and De Balliol Chase on Cemetery Road, Kempston.

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

David Wilson is currently building quality new homes at its three developments throughout Bedfordshire which include The Fairways on Greenkeepers Road in Biddenham Vale, Pilgrims Rest on Cemetery Road in Kempston and The Maythorns on Potton Road in Biggleswade.

For more information on David Wilson South Midlands please call the sales hotline on 0844 811 4477 or log on to the website at www.dwh.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1) For further information about Barratt Northampton please contact Hannah Elwell, Director of PR or Tom Lee, PR Account Executive on 0116 247 1777 or Hannah@unsworthsugden.co.uk or tom@unsworthsugden.co.uk 2) Barratt Group sold 11,377 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 second consecutive year in the 2011 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey. 4) Barratt Group was named Housebuilder of the Year at the Daily Telegraph British Homes Awards 2010. 5) In 2010 site managers working for Barratt Group won the highest number of NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards for a record sixth consecutive year. 6) Barratt Group is the only housebuilder to guarantee the fixtures and fittings in place at the time of purchase of its new homes for five years. 7) Barratt Group is also one of Britain's foremost sustainable housebuilders. It has now started on site at the Hanham Hall development near Bristol which will be the first Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 community in the UK when it is completed. 8) Images of a selection of developments are available to the media at http://www.barrattdevelopments.co.uk/media/photographs/barratthomes/

ENDS