HRH The Princess Royal was in the region this week to officially opened Keyte Gardens on Tuesday, Warwickshire’s first Passivhaus affordable housing development in the village of Wootton Wawen.
The Princess Royal was welcomed on Tuesday, September 25, by representatives from Warwickshire Rural Housing Association (WRHA) and local dignitaries and greeted by flag-waving pupils from Years 4 and 5 at Wootton Wawen CofE Primary School, before meeting the Deputy Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Mrs Janet Smith.
HRH then visited some of the new residents who have moved in to their ultra-low energy homes.
First, The Princess called on Christine Hughes who decided to move into a bungalow at Keyte Gardens when her previous home and garden in Wootton Wawen became too much for her to manage alone.
Next, The Princess Royal visited Nathan and Rebecca Crowe and their daughters, Annabelle aged four and Charlotte, aged two.
The Crowe family have watched the development progressing from day one and were keen to move into a more spacious home with somewhere for their two daughters to play outside.
During light refreshments, The Princess met residents and guests who have been involved in this community-led development, before formally opening Keyte Gardens.
A wooden sculpture featuring a bee design to honour Denis Keyte, the development’s namesake, was unveiled.
Denis a celebrated beekeeper and gardener, who passed away in May 2017, was born in the village in 1929 and was a highly regarded member of the community.
Local pupils, four-year-old Annabelle and nine-year-old Matthew, then proudly presented a posy to The Princess.
A total of 14 affordable homes have been built at Keyte Gardens to the rigorous Passivhaus standard.
Developed in Germany in the early 1990s, Passivhaus focuses on creating a building which is as energy efficient as possible to reduce its environmental footprint. The homes have been built specifically for people with a local connection to the village either through family or work.
Derrick Dyas, chair of WRHA said: “Keyte Gardens embodies the very epitome of partnership working with local communities to achieve affordable housing for local people.
“The Parish Plan called for new development which embodies the latest thinking in energy efficiency to help reduce fuel poverty. This struck a chord with our objectives and, as a result, we proposed this exciting scheme which has been developed to the challenging Passivhaus standard. The importance of what we have achieved here must not go unrecognised.”
