Ayrshire Housing has been investigating the possibility of taking a light touch approach to developing some of the open spaces in its managed estates in Ayr. We have been working with architects Austin-Smith:Lord.
Ayrshire Housing has a waiting list for Ayr of 2,500 households. This includes 300 who require a “special needs” house, the overwhelming majority seeking one or two bedroom houses.
Due to the right to buy, in the former SSHA Forehill estate now managed by Ayrshire Housing only 160 houses remain for renting as against 482 now owner-occupied. There is more over a very low turn-over in the rented stock, the majority of which are larger family houses with limited suitability for the disabled.
We believe that some of the space can be developed for smaller houses suitable for the disabled whilst still respecting the character of this attractive 1950s estate. At the land between Glennconner and Glenriddel Roads, our scheme shows the potential for 2 no 1 bedroom and 4 no 2 bedroom houses to the ambulant disabled standard. Since they will be single storey, they will be readily suitable for wheelchair users.
We are conscious of the importance of enhancing the visual amenity of the site by-
- Avoiding “over-development”.
- Designing houses that are modest in scale and complement the quality of the existing stock.
- Maintaining with landscape enhancements an open area along the boundary with Glenriddel Road.
- Creating visual interest along the axis of Glenriddel Road and at its junction with Glenconner Road.
You can view our planning application here: