The Beech Hill housing project just outside Halifax town centre was named Large Residential Development of the Year at the 2022 Insider Yorkshire Property Industry Awards.
Esh Construction is delivering the 106-home development in partnership with Together Housing Group. All properties will be made available for affordable rent and the new neighbourhood will feature public open space and landscaping, as well as a cycling route and parking facilities.
Esh Construction was appointed to deliver the scheme via the Efficiency North framework, and work commenced late in 2020.
Judges noted that the ongoing project has been challenging from the outset and the way that the partnership has overcome the obstacles in an enterprising way is one of the reasons why it came top in the awards, becoming a benchmark for other Yorkshire organisations dealing with difficult sites.
The topography of the land posed many challenges to the team, with the lower site lying 20 meters below the upper site. Extensive remediation and enabling works have been undertaken with more than 30,000m³ of materials being excavated, crushed, screened and reused on site. 90 metres of gabion retaining walls and a NAUE retaining slope have also been installed.
Simon Woodward, operations director at Esh Construction, said: “The regeneration of Beech Hill has been long in the making and securing this award is testament to the hard work of everyone who has been involved in the project, both past and present.
“As well as providing new affordable homes, Esh’s ethos of maximising the economic and social value for the local community throughout the scheme has brought great benefits to the area. To date, the project has provided a £7.9m boost to the Yorkshire region due to our commitment to employing a local workforce and procuring a local supply chain.”
George Patterson, executive director for property at Together Housing Group, said: “Housing is just one factor in calling a place home and the Calderdale Together Housing Investment Partnership has brought together different groups who want Calderdale to remain a brilliant place to live to achieve that. We’re delighted that our partnership approach involving a social housing provider, pioneering developer and the local authority working together has been recognised as we continue to work right across Calderdale with this ground-breaking work.”
Councillor Scott Patient, cabinet member for climate change and resilience at Calderdale Council, said: “Congratulations to the deserving winners of this partnership award! It’s fantastic recognition for the hard work and determination to make the Beech Hill transformation a reality.
“Beech Hill is just one of the areas benefiting from unprecedented funding throughout Halifax and Calderdale to make our towns even stronger places for everyone. I’m really proud of the level of ambition to change life in Calderdale for the better, for all our residents, businesses, workers and visitors as part of the Vision 2024.”
The development is part of the Calderdale Together Housing Investment Partnership (CTHIP) which was established to jointly deliver up to 650 affordable homes across Calderdale from 2018-23.
The regeneration of Beech Hill has been long in the making and securing this award is testament to the hard work of everyone who has been involved in the project, both past and present. As well as providing new affordable homes, Esh’s ethos of maximising the economic and social value for the local community throughout the scheme has brought great benefits to the area. To date, the project has provided a £7.9m boost to the Yorkshire region due to our commitment to employing a local workforce and procuring a local supply chain.”
