Plans for 578 homes on northern half of site to include restoration of grade II-listed silos
Buckley Gray Yeoman’s plans for the 578-home redevelopment of part of the former Shredded Wheat site in Hertfordshire have been approved.
Welwyn Hatfield council’s decision to grant planning consent for the proposals in Welwyn Garden City comes seven years after it approved a previous scheme for the entire site designed by Collado Collins.
The earlier version of the scheme, approved in 2018, would have provided 1,340 homes for the site’s former developer ZM Land & Capital and Metropolitan Thames Valley.
But the site fell into receivership in February 2023 after being stalled for nearly four years and was split into two halves before the 5.2ha northern section was sold to Malaysian developer IJM Land and Treble Eight Group in December of that year with BGY appointed as lead architect.
BGY’s plans for the scheme, called the Wheat Quarter, will provide a total of 578 new homes including townhouses, built-to-rent apartments and a 141-home retirement home block.
The scheme will also include a 180-room aparthotel, a cycle hub and the restoration of the former Shredded Wheat factory’s grade II-listed silos as leisure, retail and co-working space set around a new public square.
The factory originally opened in 1926 and was a major employer in the area before its closure in 2008 when production moved to Wiltshire.
The site has undergone extensive clearance over the last 18 years with several silos demolished, although the grade II-listed production hall, grain and boiler houses have been retained.
The council’s executive member for planning Rose Grewal said: “The old Shredded Wheat factory site has been vacant for a long time so I am delighted that council’s development management committee has resolved to grant planning permission for the development of this site.
“Supporting our town centres is a priority for the Council and the Wheat Quarter will be a wonderful addition to Welwyn Garden City.”
The new development team retained much of the former project team, which includes Bradley Murphy Design as landscape architect, Abakus Consulting on costs, Iceni on planning, Entran on transport and Civic as engineer. Lottie Delamain was appointed to the team as an additional landscape designer.
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