Delivering a better quality of life makes our places as attractive as possible for our customers.
Our placemaking principle ‘Listen to Learn’ recognises that an important element to creating a successful place is that it responds to the needs and aspirations of the new community (our customers), the existing local community and other local stakeholders.
Our approach to each development is informed by a thorough understanding of what our customers want (through post-completion feedback and surveys as well as national surveys and polling) and effective community consultation (using a wide range of methods including digital consultation platforms, websites, surveys and public exhibitions) to fully understand the views of the local community.
Our principles for effective community consultation include engaging at the earliest opportunity, using different communication channels and methodologies to reach local people, use clear messaging and sustaining communication beyond the consultation processes.
We also undertake post-occupancy audits and surveys of completed Redrow communities so that we can fully understand how successfully the original vision has been realised. This process provides a useful feedback loop to continually improve our approach and processes.
During our 2022 financial year, 47% of our developments had initiatives to reduce personal car dependency. Many of our developments have a ‘Travel plan’ in place at the point of planning permission and this sets out the initiatives and planned infrastructure improvements to encourage sustainable or active travel modes, for example cycle paths, vouchers for new bikes, subsidised bus services and new walking and cycling connections. This ensures our development and surrounding communities are provided with a choice to use more sustainable transport modes.
Enhancing nature is essential to the design of our developments and makes them more attractive communities in which to live.
Our biodiversity strategy, ‘Nature for People’, was developed in partnership with the Wildlife Trusts in 2020. It contains 15 commitments which are delivering net gains for biodiversity, connecting residents with nature, and establishing processes for long-term management and monitoring.
As well as delivering meaningful biodiversity net gain outcomes - playing our part in halting the decline of nature - the strategy is also delivering high quality landscaping and natural spaces which provide a beautiful setting to our homes and valued spaces for our customers to explore and enjoy.
We are measuring biodiversity on all new planning applications and are well-prepared for forthcoming BNG legislation, with new processes being embedded throughout the business, from land purchase to sales information for customers, to working with management companies on long-term management.
100% of all planning applications will have at least a 10% biodiversity net gain from January 2024. Our aim is to prioritise delivery of these gains on site to bring nature onto our developments, improve climate resilience and benefit local people.
28% of planning applications* granted in financial year 2023 were forecast to achieve a 10% or more net gain for biodiversity.
17% of granted applications* achieved a net gain (less than 10%) and the remaining applications pre-date BNG policy and calculations were not made.
* Full and reserved matters applications
The climate and biodiversity crises are interconnected, with climate change driving biodiversity loss, and damage to ecosystems undermining natures’ ability to mitigate the effects of climate change. Our Nature for People strategy supports resilience to a changing climate by providing biodiverse green spaces, increasing vegetation and shading from trees to provide cooling, and employing nature-based solutions for water attenuation.
Most of our developments use Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) to manage rainwater in a way that mimics natural water flows. Ponds, swales and raingardens are created to retain and clean rainwater and release it at a controlled rate. They offer several benefits including mitigating flood risk, supporting biodiversity and providing amenity and attractive focal points throughout the development.
Redrow’s Mill Meadows development, on the site of a former paper mill in Sudbrook, South Wales, has successfully led to a breeding population of one of the UK’s rarest species of bat, the Lesser Horseshoe bat, being established where previously they only roosted.
High nitrate and phosphate content in rivers and coastal waters is damaging plants and wildlife. We know that the main source of nutrient pollution is agriculture, followed by sewage effluent from industry. However, we are committed to playing our part in enabling solutions to achieve nutrient neutrality. On our developments in sensitive river catchment areas, we’ve been working hard to find innovative solutions, such as replacing low-value agricultural land with biodiverse green infrastructure, creating wetlands, and building on-development wastewater treatment works. We’ve been sharing learnings with our industry along the way, for example via the Future Homes Hub.
Making a positive impact demonstrates the benefits that our developments deliver to local communities and improves relationships.
We seek to maximise social value created by our developments. This means helping people connect, feel safe and enjoy the communities we create. Local stakeholder engagement is fundamental to the success of this and, from the design phase, we work closely with planning authorities, residents and community groups to understand and support local needs. This continues throughout building works when we work to uphold the standards of the Considerate Constructors Scheme.
We build communities that are integrated and accessible to local people. This can include a mix of different housing types and tenures, including low-cost home ownership options. We work with local authorities to identify the right mix of affordable housing for local people. We carefully integrate these homes into our new communities alongside the homes we develop to be sold.
We do this in the same way as we do for our open-market housing. We focus on ‘kerb appeal’, use the same materials and ensure the homes have high quality internal space and specifications that meet the needs of those who are going to call them home. This means our affordable homes add to the rich variety of our Heritage collection and blend in with the rest of the development. This is done in collaboration with our local partner Registered Providers and together we meet the needs of their residents.
Redrow contributed £1.2 million towards the construction of the Raymond Fenton Community Centre, South Cerney, which is a hub for village interaction providing community space including a café, meeting room Wi-Fi and a hall.
Redrow are a member of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and support its aspirations to promote sustainable development. We worked alongside them providing support in the development of a guidance document which outlines how to create health-promoting environments.
Investing in the new communities we build, starts at the planning stage. By listening to existing local residents and understanding their needs we can deliver long term social and economic impact. We invest in the local economy by creating jobs and training opportunities; working with local subcontractors and suppliers and providing new homes and accessible spaces.
We donate our time and expertise through volunteering and supporting local charities, community groups and engaging with schools and colleges. Being a good neighbour whilst minimising the impact our activities has on the environment is important to us. We are members of the Considerate Constructors Scheme, are focussed on the protection of our natural resources and green space with the aim of providing sustainable, connected and thriving communities.
Residents can also participate in the Edible Ebbsfleet initiative - a series of small scale food growing initiatives in public spaces which offers free access to fruit, vegetables and herbs, encouraging passers-by to pick, share, take home and cook.
The new community at Woodford Garden Village demonstrates our placemaking skills at their very best. Designed in keeping with the original garden cities of the early 20th century, Woodford makes it easy for people to connect with nature, is easily navigated on foot or by bicycle and links effortlessly with the surrounding neighbourhood.