Proposals to build a new housing development at Sandwick outside Stornoway are on on view at a consultation event today (Friday).
Some 160 semi-detached homes are earmarked in total over a 24 acre stretch beside
the Mackenzie Park estate. Amenity space, drainage systems and utility infrastructure
will take up about a quarter of the site.
A mix of social rent and shared equity (affordable home ownership) properties can
be accommodated on the site - called Melbost West by Hebridean Housing Partnership
(HHP), a reference to its location on Melbost Farm.
HHP hopes to move to a formal planning application later this year though timescales are still to be firmed up.
Feedback to date has been “generally positive” says John Maciver, HHP’s operations’ director.
He explained: “We are looking to gather information from the public on their views, and then we will use these views to inform the final planning stages.
“I think people are seeing the need for housing. Probably the thing which there is most discussion around is the roundabout and traffic and how that's that's managed.
But the community seems to be very supportive of the development and the need for housing generally, he added.
Across the Western Isles around 500 people have their name on HHP waiting lists with roughly half of that figure seeking a house around the Stornoway area.
“To sustain a population in the islands, we need to have houses for people to either move here, return here, or stay here.”
And demand is set to increase in a few years with a forecast boom in renewable development work attracting more people into the area.
Constructing a roundabout on the main road adjacent to the scheme is a “preferred solution from (the Comhairle’s) roads department.
“It also aims to get the best flow of traffic and slow down traffic on what can be quite fast stretch of road at the moment.”
A roundabout is better than traffic lights as traffic keeps flowing but at a slower pace. It will allow people to merge and to flow traffic from the existing houses and the new development “as seamlessly as possible.”
Proposed amenities include a designated play area in the middle of the scheme with detailed design to be prepared as part of the formal planning application.
To date no building company has been selected to construct the housing development.
Mr Maciver said: “Once we're in our position to move with a detailed planning application, we would look at moving on the tendering process,” which would be open to all.
Some 15 different house types may be utilised adopting HHP’s standard range of house types as found in neighbouring Mackenzie Park and in the Blackwater scheme in Newmarket.
Melbost West will be be “very similar and design and layout” as these.
“Mackenzie Park has been a few years since completion and is working well with positive feedback from the residents there. People are pretty happy with it.”
Sizes of properties will be a mix of one, two or three bedroom houses and probably a handful of homes with four bedrooms. In addition, there'll be provision of some adapted Housing as well for people with particular needs and disabilities.
Construction work is likely to be spread out across four phases over a number of years though that's still to be determined.
A chunk of the infrastructure including the roundabout will be developed within phase one. Undergrounding a main electricity power line going through the middle of the site would also be completed at the start.
Consultation drawings indicate a bus turning area allowing that to be potentially incorporated in future transport timetables. A serviced plot provides an opportunity for a third party to build a shop, service or commercial unit near the main road end of the scheme.
At an early stage, the Comhairle’s planning department set down the requirement for a children’s playpark. This will be accessed by youngsters from the adjacent Parkend scheme as well as those in Mackenzie Park and Melbost West.
Tighean Innse Gall (TIG) has been commissioned by HHP to assist in the project.
Ryan Macsween, assistant construction development officer at Tighean Innse Gall (TIG) said visitors who came to see the plans at the December consultation event were “generally quite positive about the houses and a lot of people have expressed the need for more housing and the plans are catering towards that demand.”
Some concerns were expressed about the overall size of the development as well as the potential for a roundabout “but these have all been logically laid out in our in our plans. The roundabout is being implemented as a means of slowing traffic and giving better visibility at the junction.”
Concerns that rural areas - where new homes are desperately needed to attract families
and stem depopulation - are being left behind arise as another big housing development
goes up around the expanding Stornoway area. At Mackenzie Park next door to Melbost
West are 131 residential properties Construction of 74 homes has been partially
competed by Newmarket while a similar number of modern houses have been erected at
Sinclair Avenue in Stornoway. A historic building in Keith Street was converted into
six flats.
Mr Mackenzie said: “A lot of houses have been built across the across the islands
“We’re on site at Cleat Road on Barra at the moment (as an extension to the six homes built in 2023) and on site at Leverburgh. We are looking at progress another few rural Lewis sites as well.”
Twelve semi-detached homes at Ionad Dotair MacLeóid in Lochmaddy were officially
opened in October, eight flats in Tarbert were handed over in 2022 and the village
is also earmarked for a proposed 48 home development
“So there’s a lot of development going on. We are delivering right across the islands and there’s a real geographical spread.”
A consultation event on Melbost West is open to the public between 1pm and 7pm today (Friday) in Sandwick Hall.
People can also submit feedback via a online survey at www.hebrideanhousing.co.uk/melbost-west
‘Positive’ feedback reported for proposed major major housing scheme in Lewis
17 January 2025