Dear Neighbour
We are
Matthew & Bridget Rea who recently bought Windy Lea, the property on the
corner of Newtown Road and Bennetts Hill. This was previously occupied by Vikki
and Colin Beard who, after 30+ years, have left Offenham for new pastures in
Scotland.
Matthew is
really a local having grown up in Bromsgrove and Bridget comes from Milton
Keynes. For the last 7 years we have been living in Evesham with Thomas
(Bridget’s son) who is nearly 18 and will be heading off to university next
year.
We bought
Windy Lea as some where for us to live and work for the next 15 to 20 years
Bridget is a textile artist and Matthew, although currently working in IT, is a
very keen photographer. In Windy Lea we see the potential to have a lovely
home, space for our studios and room for workshops. Matthew is a keen
fixer/maker/mender – he also mad about cars and canoeing, and can often be
found paddling on the River Avon.
We wanted to
make contact with all neighbours as soon as possible because we do plan to make
some alterations to the property and are very keen that everyone is as
comfortable as possible with what we propose to do.
The house is
a little too small for us and we plan to extend it to the rear but only a
single storey, we also then plan to build into the attic to create some extra
bedrooms – this will hopefully include adding two front facing dormers. Our aim
is to keep the main house no taller than it is today.
We then plan
to refurbish the workshops and improve their usability as studios. This will
include re-roofing, re-cladding, and insulating. There is enough space for
Matthew to have a photographic studio and Bridget to have a good sized
studio/workshop, still leaving enough space for storage and other general
workshops. We are also looking to install a considerable amount of roof-mounted
solar photo-voltaic cells to the workshops.
In terms of
the grounds, Vikki & Colin planted many lovely species of trees over the
years they lived there and we plan to maintain and improve the gardens. They
also had a number of animals which is something that appeals to us – though
with Thomas just leaving for university we are keen to have a few years now
where we aren’t tied to the demands of any goats or donkeys! We will put some
of the land over completely to wild flowers, attempt to re-establish the pond,
and largely look to maintain it all in an environmentally sustainable way.
Bridget is very keen to start bee-keeping.
Vikki &
Colin also enjoyed a great deal of privacy allowing the perimeter trees to
reach quite substantial heights. We have a more open view on this and believe
that access to light is essential to enjoyment of the environment. You will
have seen that we have already removed over 120 Leylandii from the boundary
with Colin at Keder Greenhouse, some of which were over 45ft tall. We
investigated a number of options here but reached the conclusion that removal
and replanting with a less invasive species is the only sustainable solution –
we had to act much faster than we expected to get them removed before the nesting
season got underway. For the rest of the perimeter we will reduce some
over-hanging foliage on Bennetts Hill and lower several of the taller trees to
a more sustainable height - but will retain as much privacy as possible. Windy
Lea has 3 entrances and we have already opened the gateway on Newtown Road –
apologies for the mud created by the tree removal, this work is now more or
less complete.
We aren’t
entirely new to the “Offenham Scene” as we have both taken part in Open Studios
working with other local artists over the last 5 years. We intend, over time,
to include Windy Lea in both Open Studios and Open Gardens.
We very much
welcome you to meet with us to discuss the plans we have for Windy Lea, you
will have already been contacted by Wychavon planning department about plans we
have submitted.
We are
working with a local architect and planning consultant, all construction work
will be awarded to local companies. The building work is quite extensive and we
anticipate it could take longer than 6 months to complete. We hope to start the
building work in April
We will make
every effort to keep you up-to-date on our plans as they progress and very much
look forward to meeting you soon. Please
do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns or would like to
understand our plans in more detail.
A copy of
all our plans can be found at www.thewindylea.co.uk
Kindest
regards
Matthew
& Bridget
Bridget’s
art work can be viewed at www.steel-jessop.co.uk
Matthew’s
photography can be viewed at www.stinkingdaisy.co.uk
Current planning
status:
The plans
for the extension of the main house have now been submitted. Next week we will
submit the plans for refurbishing the outbuildings. We are already in contact
with Western Power about moving some of the pole-mounted electricity feeds
underground.
