News and events

Holme Valley’s own Community-led Housing charity, EcoHolmes, has come up with a vision of the sort of homes we should have in the future – affordable, energy-efficient and sustainable.

After a summer of consulting with local people, we have produced display boards full of ideas about environmentally friendly, low energy and affordable homes perpetually available to people who have grown up and work in the Holme Valley.

The ‘concept siteplan’ above shows what might be built into a small development of such homes. Not all schemes would be this size or be able to contain all the ideashttps://ecoholmes.org.uk/resources/. But this captures what people have said is needed and is what has been done by other community housing trusts elsewhere.

To turn the ideas into reality, EcoHolmes need small suitable sites at reasonable cost in the Valley. We are confident of being able to attract funding to build affordable, cheap-to-run houses fit for the future.

We are still asking for ideas from people, especially those young families or older people who might be interested in these smaller homes.

If you want to see our other EcoHolmes concept display boards, click here

Our first Annual General Meeting was held on Zoom on Tuesday 16th February 2021, with some 21 members attending. The CLT now has 63 members and over 200 subscribers to its newsletters. The Chair Stephen Sheard, reported on our first years activities since being established in September 2019, and the Secretary/Acting Treasurer John Queening presented the annual financial accounts for the last year. The Directors Annual Report and the Financial Accounts for FY2020 are both published on this website. In the formal AGM business, the reports and accounts were accepted and a new Management Board elected by the CLT members; all the founder Directors standing down as this was our first AGM.

Presentations were then made by Board members Tony Hood and Matthew Tulley, firstly on feedback from our ‘Listening to the Community’ engagment work and secondly on how this has been applied to our EcoHolmes concept housing – small community sites with 5 to 25 units in small clusters of terraces, in a style that suits the local character of the area, and built as quality sustainable homes fit for the future. Their construction will follow the principles of a ‘fabric first’ design for reducing heat loss and saving energy, as well as being designed for well-being, and lifetime needs, all within a communal setting. A final Q&A session was then held, with the Members having an opportunity to ask questions of the Board of EcoHolmes.

Over three quarters of people who were recently asked, think that we need more affordable homes in the Holme Valley. Nearly half of them personally know someone who cannot find a suitable place to live locally where they work and have connections.

Using an online survey, Eco Holmes have helped fill out a vision for better homes that could be built in this area. Our vision has been shaped by a series of 14 workshops run last year. We are still seeking your views as we work to find the sites and funding to develop affordable, fit-for-the-future homes to help keep people in the Holme Valley.

A majority see the need for more affordable homes justifying extra houses being built; most people would prefer, where possible, to see existing buildings re-used and green space protected.

People want to see an improved standard of homes, so they are well-insulated, cheap and easy to run, using solar power and other sources of renewable energy. They need to be near services, public transport and have charging points to encourage electric cars or even ‘pooled’ cars for neighbours. New homes should be designed to promote neighbourliness with shared outdoor spaces for play and as growing areas.

Using a well-established approach – Community Led Housing – we can make this happen. The homes are owned by the community and rented at low cost to people with local connections.