Eastleigh Borough Councillors visit the One Horton Heath site to take in the key works to date and find out about the next stages of the project.
On an uncharacteristically sunny July evening, One Horton Heath welcomed local Councillors for an after-hours site tour to view progress being made at the site and learn more what has been completed so far. Of particular interest and discussion for this visit was works taking place on the first of three highway and two footway bridges being constructed as part of the Link Road from Allington Lane to Bubb Lane.
The tour then continued down the Link Road, stopping to view two newly constructed drainage tanks in the south and north of the development along with key pieces of infrastructure like the three new electric substations. Throughout the tour, Councillors were also able to observe the 16 newly installed SUDS features, implemented ahead of house building at the site, which will serve as attenuation for the works and provide bio diversity net gain.
Councillors also enjoyed a visits to the Northen Gateway Viewing Platform opened to the public in 2023 and Chalcroft Farm and there given an insight into the measures implemented to support local wildlife at the adjacent wildlife area created within the Allington Lane Open Space and Chalcroft Farm. These areas have been designed to support and promote local wildlife and boast features such as bat boxes, a ‘bug hotel’, dozens of hibernacula’s and refugia’s, rich native planting and 6 wildlife newt ponds, all intended to support local animal populations.
The tour finally came to an end with a visit to Lower Acre, the site of the development’s first new homes to be accessed via the Southern Gateway. Future residents in this area will benefit from an acre of communal open space, new connection routes and more than 658 newly planted trees.