A topping-out ceremony has been held for The Guinness Partnership’s Signal Park development in Tolworth, south-west London, which will provide at least 950 new homes once complete.
Jon Milburn, group development director at The Guinness Partnership, was joined by Councillors Mark Beynon and Helen Grocott from Kingston Council; as well as Stuart Gibbons, regional managing director at Lovell (London and Southern), who represented the contractors.
The rooftop event enabled guests to take a closer look at the progress being made at the new-build scheme, which sits adjacent to Tolworth Station and on an 11-acre site formerly belonging to government offices and the Toby Jug pub.
Signal Park will seek to meet housing need in the local area, with the first phase of development providing 211 shared ownership affordable homes; and later phases providing at least another 739 homes, a large proportion of which are set to be affordable.
Signal Park will also include a new bus stand, a cycle hub, and a café centred adjacent to a new public square with access to the train station.
In addition, amenity space will be provided with podium gardens, a play area, and a community centre and commercial space.
Signal Park is set to have “high environmental credentials”, with a purpose-built energy centre and air-source heat pumps reducing CO2 emissions.
The design also incorporates landscaped green roofs and sensitive landscaping with wildlife-friendly planting to maximise biodiversity.
In addition to an investment in the local community, through groups such as Community Brain – which is currently using part of the site as a community garden – Signal Park will seek to contribute to developing a local workforce for the future, with the various stakeholders involved in the development hiring and training people locally.
Jon Milburn, group development director at The Guinness Partnership, said: “Today marks an important point in our development here at Signal Park, which sees us bringing this long empty site back into use.
“These first homes will make affordable home ownership a reality for over 200 households, and the energy efficiency measures will help keep the homes more affordable to live in.
“The scheme here in Tolworth demonstrates our commitment to supporting Kingston’s regeneration ambitions for the area, and the hundreds of homes we will provide over coming years will make a huge difference to the community.”
Stuart Gibbons, regional managing director (London and Southern) at Lovell, said: “It was important to mark this milestone at Signal Park.
“The quality new homes we are building on this land will make a significant difference to the local community.”
The Guinness Partnership is an affordable housing and care provider with more than 140,000 customers across the country, living in more than 64,000 homes.
Lovell is part of the Morgan Sindall Group plc, a UK-based construction and regeneration group.
Main image: (L-R) Jon Milburn, group development director, The Guinness Partnership; and Stuart Gibbons, regional managing director, Lovell London and Southern
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