Foreman Homes are delighted to have received detailed planning permission for their 225-dwelling scheme at Romsey Avenue, in Portchester, and to have done so in such style: the planning committee's decision was unanimous, and several of the councillors publicly complemented us on our efforts for having engaged so closely with the locals, and for going-the-extra-mile to help make what started off as a contentious proposal, a far more conciliatory and harmonious one.

The development will consist of a good mix of homes – ranging from 1 bed to 4 – with this made up of detached, semi-detached, and terraced houses, along with a small number of flats and maisonettes too, and all have been designed to relate well with one another, with a strong 1930's theme running throughout the main streets' architecture, so as to better respect the character of the immediate locality.

As part of the proposal, we are also creating a vast area of protected habitat, for Brent Geese, and other birds, totalling some 4½ hectares in size (or roughly the equivalent of 9 football pitches, if you prefer), and we will also be handing over to the council a linear park of 1.4 hectares (roughly 3 football pitches) and within which we will have a true area of publicly accessible open space, with a Neighbourhood-Equipped-Area-of-Play within, and which will also be criss-crossed by new pathways which will – at the request of local residents – also allow for the formation of a pedestrian/cycle link to both the Wicor Recreation Ground, and the coastal path just beyond.

This is a scheme of which we are immensely proud, and we very much look forward to delivering these homes over the coming years.