Its been a busy week here at Woodland Court.  Work is well underway with the ground works, and this week saw the first sheet piles put in place ready for the first highway retaining wall to be constructed.

The weather on site this week has been very cold, with temperatures dropping to minus 4 degrees at night!!!!!  But that hasn't stopped the lads on site from getting their jobs done, and allthough at the moment the site at Woodland Court looks like one big muddy field, its starting to take shape - so watch this space!!!

Introducing our 'Trainee of the Year'

At the Wates annual regional review held at Oulton Hall last Friday, local lad Robert Frost from Huddersfield scooped the Wates Living Space Trainee of the year accolade.

Rob has been with Wates for only 12 months, but in this time has made a superb contribution to the Kirklees Excellent Homes for Life scheme.  He recently completed his degree in Building Studies, procured and managed our local community day in Dewsbury Moor with over 60 attendees, and became an integral part of the Wates team.

 

Looking good Rob !

Rob was presented with his Certificate and bottle of Champagne by our Regional Director who thanked him for his enthusiasm and commitment over the last 12 months.

Rob is extremely proud of his award and has set his sights on retaining the mantle for 2012 with the support and guidance of the Woodland Court team.

Woodland Court goes green...

As part of Wates' Green Policy we have procured our temporary cabin set up, and have specified items such as the following to reduce our carbon foot print and energy use:

• TRV's and timers on heaters to reduce our energy usage
• Push taps in the toilets and canteen to reduce water usage and waste water
• PIR's to all lighting in the cabins, so lights are switched off when there's no movement - saving energy
• Low capacity cisterns to reduce water usage
• Secondary door and door closers to the cabin doors to prevent heat loss and energy wastage
• Protection has been erected around the trees on site to prevent any accidental damage, and our bird and bat boxes have been ordered for that area
• The stone under the temporary compound area has also been sourced locally, and is totally recycled
• Our Assistant Surveyor and Production Trainee are car sharing and promoting this initiative on site, they're also tracking their reduction in C02 emissions
• Public Transport is promoted and displayed in the canteen to encourage use
• Local suppliers and contractors have been sourced to help reduce our carbon footprint
• A Habitat Hotel is to be constructed over the next two weeks, to provide temporary homes whilst construction works are ongoing.

Keep a watch on our blog for further Green commitments by our team!

Work has now started...

The weather has been kind to us on our first week on site, and we have made good progression with the vegetation strip and tree removal.  Tree protection has been put in place as agreed with the Environmental Officers at Kirklees Council.  We are hoping (if the weather continues to be kind to us), that our enablement works will be completed within our six week programme. 

Welcome...

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as Wates Living Space. We are a Building Contractor working in conjunction with Kirklees Council, and have been appointed to build a new 46 bed extra care home on the waste ground at the junction of School Lane and Staincliffe Road, Dewsbury.

This development is part of the Kirklees Excellent Homes for Life project, which will build 466 new homes for rent across Kirklees.  If you would like more information about the project, please visit www.kirklees.gov.uk/excellenthomes, or telephone 01484 225210 to talk to the council.

At Wates Living Space we take great pride in what we do and how we work with the local community whilst we are constructing our projects. 

Work will commence on Tuesday 3^rd January 2012, starting with making the site secure and installing new drain connections out into School Lane.  Unfortunately this will mean temporary traffic lights being installed both on School Lane and Staincliffe Road for a period of two weeks until these are completed.  We will also be installing tree protection, and electric and water connections in January.

The site is due for completion on 18^th March 2013.  Please feel free to get in touch at any point during this period if you have any concerns about our activities, and we will be more than willing to discuss these further.

May we take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your co-operation, and we look forward to working with you over the coming year.