The planning application to reinvigorate the historic Impney Estate, north of Droitwich Spa, has been approved by Wychavon District Council in Worcestershire.
Custodians of the Estate, Impney Ltd, are looking to realise a sustainable future for the Grade II* Impney Hall and the wider 140-acre estate which surrounds it.
The ambitious proposal has been drawn up through a comprehensive Estate masterplan by LDA Design. Within this, Proctor & Matthews Architects have masterplanned and designed the new village of Little Impney, set in the Hall grounds. Planning approval is subject to agreeing s106 conditions. Planning approval is subject to s106 agreement and planning conditions and final design discussions.
The overall Estate masterplan includes a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, the restoration of Impney Hall, and the landscaping of the vast naturalistic parkland which ties the scheme together. It will improve access and encourage sustainable travel. It will also create new opportunities for recreation, enhance biodiversity and improve degraded landscapes with sustainable drainage basins and swales.
Little Impney will be a new mixed-use village of 127 homes plus business space. Located in what would have historically been the working area of the estate, the village will reflect the historic form of the former 19th-century walled productive garden and include allotments and community orchards. There will be a village square – a neighbourhood focus along the existing John Corbett Way – for residents and those working in the surrounding existing and retained workshops.
The listed building application for the magnificent Impney Hall was also approved, subject to conditions, and it will become a boutique hotel and restaurant. Unsympathetic add-ons will be demolished, and historic external elevations restored.
Clare Wilks, a director at LDA Design and project lead for Impney, said:
“We are delighted with this decision, which reflects the local community’s own enthusiasm for the proposals. It will make a huge difference to the area and become a lovely place to live and to visit.”
Stephen Proctor, founding director of Proctor & Matthews Architects said
“The new village of Little Impney has been designed in response to the sensitive setting of the historic Impney Hall and the wonderful estate parkland. It is rewarding to not only receive planning approval but also to hear of the overwhelming support from local residents of the proposals to reposition the Impney Estate at the centre of community life.”
Image credit: LDA Design and Proctor & Matthews