Sustainable construction company, Human Nature, which was founded by former Greenpeace directors, have been granted planning permission for a new development in East Sussex.
'The Phoenix Project' is a development consisting of 685 new homes, 3,500 square metres of workspace, a health centre, community space, restaurant, bar, retail space, nursery, energy centre, and riverside walkways and footbridge, and will be the largest timber neighbourhood in the UK.
Situated in South Downs National Park, the local planning authority have given planning committee approval to detailed plans for the first 44 homes and outline permission for the rest of scheme.
The development will include 30% affordable housing, and intends to emphasise connections in shared spaces with a co-mobility hub that consists of electric car sharing, electric bike service, and a shuttle bus facility.
Chief executive of Human Nature, Jonathan Smales, said: "The current mainstream model of development is catastrophic, baking in deeply unsustainable fabric, infrastructure, and transport, fuelling the climate and nature crises; it also creates social divisions and exacerbates loneliness.
"We aim to show that living sustainably can be a joy, not an exercise in self-denial, made far easier by the design of neighbourhoods. We're working with an amazing team, bringing together best practices in sustainable design, urbanism, and construction to provide a new breakthrough model with the Phoenix."
