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| Springhill cohousing, Stroud. Photo: Chris Morton |
Three members of the Beacon Project visited Springhill cohousing in Stroud, Gloucestershire, on Saturday 24 March 2012. The Springhill development was built in 2002 on a 2 acre sloping site near Stroud town centre. It is the first purpose-built cohousing development in the country, with about 80 residents and a three-storey community building where they all enjoy three shared meals a week. These meals are cooked on a rota so that they all cook one meal a month. Eating together regularly is central to the community's vision of daily interaction, support and sharing.
How it all got started is of real interest. By the Autumn of 2000 builder and developer David Michael had negotiated to buy the land and he then attracted some ten households, all of whom purchased 5,000 £1 shares in the Company formed to buy the land, and chose which house type they were going to purchase. The choice was 5, 4 or 3 bed houses, and 1 and 2 bed flats. Meanwhile David had worked out a system of plot purchase and everyone paid according to the size of their dwelling.
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| The lane at Springhill. Photo: Chris Morton |
Originally, the Springhill group were keen to include as many environmentally friendly design elements as possible. They looked at recycling grey water, considered a centralised heating system, rejected reed bed on grounds of space, and applied successfully to the DTI for a £320,000 grant for photovoltaics on the roofs of the houses. They decided against grey water on grounds of cost, but went for Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDS) which replicates the way rainwater naturally drains into the soil, rather than being rushed off the site through culverts and drains. They also agreed on high levels of insulation (150mm Warmcell) and triple glazing. The householders have the option to install solar panels on the roofs if they wish. Since Springhill is an urban site with no spare land, the community is not able to grow food, although a few raised beds for communal vegetables exist. A few chickens are also kept by one household, who then sells the eggs on cheaply to other households.
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| Two bed flats at Springhill. Photo: Chris Morton |
One of the regrets expressed to us our during our visit was that they didn't build the all-important community building first, since a number of original plans were sidelined due to lack of funds when it finally got built. The most important of these was a communal laundry. Since all the individual houses were built one by one, they all had washing machines installed, meaning that a communal laundry was unnecessary. A communal laundry would have significantly lessened the water consumption and carbon footprint of the development, as well as increase community interaction in the communal building.
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| Three storey community building at Springhill. Photo: Chris Morton |
Nonetheless, the community building is an evident success. Due to the slope of the site, the building is unusually accessed on the top floor from one end of the site, and the ground floor from the bottom of the site. The top floor is the kitchen and dining room, which is the most used on a daily basis. The middle room is for meetings, events and performances, and is comfortably kitted out with sofas. Residents said that this is little used as a communal living room, but was frequently used for other activities. The ground floor was least used, and had been turned over to teenagers to play pool, as well as accommodating a small workshop.
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| Springhill from the park entrance. Photo: Chris Morton |
As a member of the Springhill community, one is expected to undertake 20 hours of communal activity each year, such as clearing common drains, cutting back foliage, gardening or other suggested tasks. This is a significantly lower commitment than many other cohousing developments, especially where significant environmental site management tasks are required. The Hockerton Housing Project, for instance, requires residents to undertaken 300 hours per year, mostly due to the demanding self-sufficiency tasks involved in their water, waste and electricity provision.
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| Flats at Springhill. Photo: Chris Morton |
Buying and selling properties within Springhill is straightforward. Anyone wishing to sell their home either obtains an independent, external valuation or simply chooses the figure they want, and then informs the Cohousing Company of their intention to sell. The Company then has 28 days to nominate someone from the waiting list or internally to make an offer to purchase. If no offer is forthcoming from this source, the vendor can then put the property on the open market at the same price. The seller is not obliged to sell to a Cohousing Company nominee but most people have preferred to pass their homes onto other co-housers who are scaling up or down.
With thanks to Neil and Anne for organizing our visit to Springhill, and the other residents who took the time to talk to us. Some of the information in this blog post is taken from Max Comfort's useful document 'Springhill Cohousing - a personal outline. November 2007'. Visit the Springhill website.
