Homes on stilts
A £7m futuristic apartment complex on stilts has been planned for an island in the River Trent at Newark.
The developers, Dawkins and Co, would create a five-floor 63 apartment complex with parking beneath.
The company has an agreement to buy the island, which is privately owned, subject to planning permission being granted by Newark and Sherwood District Council.
Dawkins would also create a wildlife habitat, open to the public.
The Essex company would hand ownership of the reserve to someone suitable, such as Newark and Sherwood District Council, and pay for its upkeep for 15 years.
Dawkins has built several waterside projects.
The apartment block, which would stand on stilts so that floods would flow underneath, would have 45 two-bed and 18 one-bed apartments, along with 51 carpark spaces.
Dawkins would pre-construct the apartments in pod form and may use the river to transport the pods to the island.
It also intends to include solar panels on the Millgate side of the building and attach a wind turbine to harness enough energy to power the block.
That side of the building would feature red bricks in an effort to blend in with the traditional properties on Millgate, which is a conservation area. Riverside views would be more contemporary.
A small number of apartments would be let by a housing association, and the prices of the others would be more than £200,000 for penthouses.
One major problem appears to be access, as all traffic and pedestrians would have to use a narrow bridge from Mill Lane.
Newark Civic Trust has seen the plans. Millgate Conservation Society will view them next week.
They will be submitted to planners next month.
The area’s county councillor, Mr Keith Girling, said he was opposed to the plans because of traffic, sewage and flooding problems.
He said everyone had seen how close the banks were to breaking on the River Trent in Newark recently and he was concerned that flood water that normally collected on Parnham’s Island would be displaced.
He said local residents had told him raw sewage had come up the drains on Mill Lane during the torrential rains of July.
He would also regret the loss of the island to fisherman and urged it be left in its present wild state.
“This is about the principle of building on Parnham’s Island. It’s a no-goer,” he said.
The chairman of the civic trust’s planning committee, Mr Bill Davidson, said members were impressed, but there were details that needed to be resolved, one of them was the suggestion that water power be harnessed rather than wind.
Mr Davidson, of Queen Street, Balderton, said: “We see this windmill whirling at the top of the building as a bit of an eyesore.”
Mr Davidson said in principle they welcomed the proposals and the fact the plans preserved some of the history of the old mill, which burned down in 1965.
It would be making formal comments to the planning authority.
Ahead of her meeting, Millgate Conservation Society’s conservation officer, Mrs Sue Pickles, said initial areas of concern for her included increased traffic over Mill Bridge to the island, the stress on the bridge and the added strain on the sewerage system.
She said the sustainable features were interesting but agreed the use of water power should be investigated.
Mrs Pickles said they wanted to retain the history of the area and safeguard wildlife.
Mr Neil Ingham, land acquisitions manager for Dawkins, said: “I think it really would be spectacular.
“We realised the significant opportunity we have to create a building such as this.
“It’s a significant site in the town and we hope people agree that we have done a very good job creating a building that the town can be proud of.”
Mr Ingham said one of the major issues faced was flood risk and the Environment Agency had been involved from an early stage.
He said plans for the turbine device were subject to discussion.
There were controversial plans in 1997, to build a hotel on Parnham’s Island.
The original plans featured a helicopter pad, but despite the project being scaled down, it was never approved.
The strong objections included the fact that a colony of water voles, which are protected species, lived on the site and would have to be moved to another part of the island or to another area on the banks of the River Trent.
