Josh Gardner has plans for 21 new houses in East Charlton.

The project could see six open market houses, 11 social rented and four key worker houses, a community asset and a village green built in the village, just off the A379.

The landowner and farmer, William Tucker, has so far put up all the funding for the project and the plan is for him to retain ownership of two of the open market homes, the four key workers houses and the community asset, which has yet to be decided on.

The trust will retain control of four open market homes and the 11 social rented houses and the village green and parking will be publicly accessible.

Josh said: ‘The trustees have an option on the bottom half of the land and the top half will remain with William Tucker, who has donated the land for community housing.

‘The plan is, once planning is granted, a trust will be set up under William’s son’s name, who died in an accident in the early 1990s, called the JWT Trust.’

The village green is hoped to fill a gap in the village as there is currently no public open space or facilities for children’s play. The new green will be placed between the new houses and the existing village and will include a protected play area for young children and an open grassed area for recreation and village activities.

The village green is hoped to be passed over to the ownership of the parish council or a local organisation to supervise its upkeep.

The community asset is hoped to become a social facility for the village as well as an attraction for visitors and a source of local employment. The proposed position is designed to make the most of the view down the valley to Frogmore Creek and a car park will be publicly accessible.

The current plans will see the social housing making up 73 per cent of the project, and Josh says ‘The trustees and I plan to stick to this by hopefully having some understandable funders, but it may need to move depending on the final costs, but we are happy to have mortgages if needed.’

Josh continued: ‘This is a not for profit venture and all the plots William is getting will not be built for him, he will only be getting the planning if granted, which means he is getting a worse deal than the Village Housing Initiative or selling to a developer.

‘The trust will proceed with developing the 15 properties we have put forward and we will have another six acres to play with in the future, under the trust, and I would like the community at this point to tell us when to build further.

‘In this case the trust will be the developer, with me taking a leading role, and hopefully getting local builders to take on the project. We have already been in talks with three local building firms and two of the three are happy to discuss it further.’

If you would like to comment on the plans or would like to express an interest in one of the affordable houses, contact Josh by email: [email protected].