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New eco-village planned for the north-east

Catherine Deshayes

Plans have been submitted for a £80-£100 million mixed-use eco-village in the at the former Paton & Baldwins Textile plant in Darlington

You may wonder what London's Cavendish Square and Darlington in the north-east have in common. They are both owned by Marchday plc, specialist developers of redundant buildings.

When they bought the 107-acre brownfield site in Darlington ten years ago, they set about transforming the business use from manufacturing and industrial to high-end office space.

Once the largest wool-manufacturing plant in Europe, Lingfield Point was self-sufficient in electricity and steam, had an on-site reservoir and a dedicated branch line of the Stockton-Darlington railway. The development also included workers' housing and many social facilities for employees, their families and the surrounding community.

Following a major local consultation exercise, plans have been submitted to Darlington Borough Council for the north east's first and largest urban eco-village.

The flagship mixed-use ‘green' development, designed by architects FAT, will deliver all of the key objectives being pursued by forward thinking planners and the government, including that it is a brownfield site, it will make extensive use of green technologies and it will create a sustainable community. 

It will also incorporate public elements including health, sport and community facilities, will include a substantial element affordable housing and will house a public art space.

The regeneration of the site will bring Lingfield Point full circle, creating a mixed-use sustainable community, providing up to 1,200 homes and a workplace for several thousand.

The site will use green technologies such as wind and solar power, along with rainwater harvesting to reduce the impact on the environment.

There are also plans to install a Combined Heat and Power plant, for efficient creation of heat and electricity to use in homes and businesses.