Consultation
Officers’ Mess, St George’s Barracks, Edith Weston
Our approach to consultation
We have submitted a planning application to Rutland County Council for the redevelopment of the Officers’ Mess in Edith Weston, following widespread consultation with the local community and a series of design workshops. We would like to thank everyone who has taken part in this process.
How local engagement has influenced our plans
Extensive consultation with the local community provided our design team with helpful feedback and influenced the design of the masterplan in the following areas by:
- Creating attractive building frontages along Manton and Edith Weston Road, to align with the visual character of village.
- Reflecting the form and character of the historic parts of Edith Weston in design of layout and individual elements.
- Adding pedestrian crossings to the north and east to provide safe access to and from the site. This will provide infrastructure that will help slow traffic in the village along Manton Road and Edith Weston Road and encourage the integration of existing and new communities.
- Providing a village green opposite the pub and adjacent to the Old School House. This creates a welcoming village amenity linking old and new, along with enhancing the setting of the listed Old School property.
- Providing commercial space for a new village amenity that faces the green.
- Maintaining the existing vehicular access points – in large part to preserve the existing avenues of trees.
- Retaining category A and other important trees and hedgerows to maintain the visual quality of the village landscape.
- Delivering a new public, green space within the development, which will be accessible to everyone and provide an important landscape space with views to the wider countryside.
Engagement programme
Consultation has taken place in three stages:
Stage 1: Enquiry by Design Workshop and community drop-in session
In November 2022, we held an informal two-day workshop to discuss development ideas for the Officers’ Mess site. We invited a range of community representatives to take part in the workshop. Click here to see a list of these stakeholders. The workshop, known as an Enquiry by Design, was facilitated by the Prince’s Foundation and included a community drop-in session to enable the wider community to contribute ideas.
Unlike a typical consultation, where plans would simply be presented to the public for comments, an Enquiry by Design aims to achieve a level of consensus as to the type, form and nature of potential development and form a vision for the site through collaboration.
The design workshop was well attended and we were pleased to have the opportunity to listen to the suggestions from the local community and stakeholders.
Stage 2: Report Back Session
In January 2023, we held a feedback session to update the community on the outcome of the Enquiry by Design workshop events. Click here to view the information shared at the event.
The session presented the findings of the Enquiry by Design workshop and key development considerations.
The findings of the Prince’s Foundation’s Enquiry by Design workshop can be viewed within the report by clicking here.
Stage 3: Wider Public Consultation
In March 2023, we held a series of consultation events to share the evolving plans for the Officers’ Mess site with the community, which included two drop in sessions in Edith Weston and an online webinar.
You can view the information boards from the drop in sessions by clicking here.
