Sustainability thread

Covering a broad range of ecological topics from renewable energy to sustainable on-site production of resources and materials.

Categories: General

CABE gives the Lingfield Point proposals the Thumbs UP! »

Lingfield Point has enjoyed two recent meetings from dignitaries of the design world.

A group from the Design Council CABE Board visited to tour the site and visit the wool factory buildings which have been recycled into inspirational, award winning workplaces with us being the first stop for office space in Darlington.

They also heard about the first phase of residential development about to begin on site. Last week the Northern Architecture review panel in association with CABE reviewed Taylor Wimpey’s proposed design and were mightily impressed;

The North East Design Review & Enabling Service is the CABE-Affiliated Panel which examines most major developments in the north-east with a view to ensure they achieve the maximum design value and sustainability that is possible, given the project brief.The Panel meets monthly in a number of venues around the region and assess four projects at each meeting. January’s meeting was held at Lingfield Point which proved to be an easy to find location well-served by parking and public transport. The managers of the venue were most helpful in meeting the Panel’s requirements and provided and excellent room and refreshments.

We hope to return when the Panel next meets in this locale. In their proposals for the first phase of residential at the Lingfield Point site, Taylor Wimpey have built upon their track record of pursuing innovative development forms, first seen locally at The Staithes, Gatehead. The proposals include some genuinely fresh approaches to edge-of-urban residential development, commencing with the main approach to the residential development via the existing Italian Gardens with the route terminating in a set-piece square. Other interesting features include a innovative pedestrian dominated “walled garden/route” where residents very much take precedent over the car, and the creation of a landscaped bowl and belvedere in the north-west corner to create form in an otherwise flat site. Overall the development responds well to its setting, is thoughtful and will be a fresh offer on the local housing market.

The Design Review Panel made a number of supportive suggestions which the developer responded positively to and they think the scheme deserves to succeed.

Great stuff indeed! The first new homes at Lingfield Point are planned for later this year so watch this space for details.

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Categories: General

Lingfield Point supports ‘BUY LOCAL’ »

Lingfield Point provides office space in Darlington to over 50 businesses employing over 1800 employees from around the area and is actively encouraging businesses to back the town-wide ‘BUY LOCAL’ Scheme when it launches on Wednesday at its first EXPO exhibition. 

Lingfield Point also practices what it preaches…. its main suppliers and partners come from around Darlington confirming we ‘BUY LOCAL’ where we can.

With its award-winning office space home to some of the most significant businesses in the North East including Student Loans Company, Capita, FaulknerBrowns, Four Seasons Health Care, NFU Mutual, NAAFI and Recognition PR – this rallying call across the business park will certainly encourage support.

Now, thanks to the recently launched, unique space, YARN, Lingfield Point is now also home to an ever-increasing entrepreneurial group of companies that thrive in the innovative support network available in Darlington.  ‘BUY LOCAL’ could really help these new neighbours become established in the local economy

John Orchard, director of owning company, Marchday group plc, says  “Darlington’s business environment is not just a collection of companies in the same location; it’s a dynamic community working to support each other -  nurturing our entrepreneurial spirit and protecting the vitality of the local economy.

Buy local sums up the difference that Darlington can offer business. A great local network of like-minded professionals willing to help you sustain your business and your employees.”  

From small incubator units in Lingfield House to the unique, creative space of YARN with space ranging from 260sqft to single 100,000 sqft floor plates, Lingfield Point can offer you inspirational business space to suit your needs.

Great location, easy access with plenty of car parking and a new on site bus service that can take you straight into Darlington town centre in less than 10 minutes is now a great ‘BUY LOCAL’ bonus.

Visitors feel the place has a real soul due to reusing dramatic buildings with an obvious former life.  This ‘soul’ and unsurpassed customer service combine to foster a real community spirit and culture.   The result is lingfield life -  a friendly neighbourhood with personality, social heart, flexible business facilities and a customer focused approach, designed to help your business thrive.

Lingfield Point is delighted  is delighted to support this innovative way of getting to know your neighbour in Darlington – it echos our own sentiments.

But don’t just take our word for it – pick up the phone on 01325 486486 or come and visit and don’t forget -  buy local.

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Categories: General

Foundation for Jobs gains momentum and national support »

Following the successful launch at Lingfield Point; Darlington’s Foundation for Jobs is gaining momentum.

Lingfield Point is home to some of the largest businesses in the region and  is usually the first – and only – stop for office space in Darlington. The business park continues to support this rallying call to train and develop the next generation of people to work in business.

The Prime Minister and David Miliband have both thrown their support behind this ambitious scheme. The scheme which was launched by the Bishop of Durham is focussed on placing at least 100 apprentices with companies in the borough as well exposing hundreds more to the real life workplace.

David Cameron described the campaign as a ‘brilliant initiative’;

I welcome this brilliant intiative from the Northern echo; it is just the kind of thing we need to give young people the skills, training and opportunies to succeed.

Labour’s ex leader David Miliband added;

The Foundation for Jobs is just the kind of initiative that can break through the bureaucracy and develop new ideas that give access to young people to the jobs of the future.

Lingfield Point’s owners, Marchday, was one of the first to sign the charter underlining the commitment to create apprentice places.  John Orchard said of our experience:

At Lingfield Point we have already taken on apprentices and have gained greatly from the experience. I know that some of our customers have done the same. There’s no doubt that this scheme will raise the profile of apprenticeships and open people’s eyes to the advantages to their business.

With over 50 companies and 2000 people working at Lingfield Point we hope the initiative will make Darlington an even better place to do business.

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Categories: General

Buzzing around – Lingfield Point’s bees know how to keep the cold out! »

The ground may be solid and the snowdrops bring a welcome touch of colour to gardens and grounds of Lingfield Point but our bees are taking the weather reports seriously and are staying inside their hives for warmth. 

Bees huddle inside hives during Winter

Honey bees traditionally stop flying when the temperature drops down in Winter.  Staying inside, they huddle together inside their hives making a ‘winter cluster’ . With few flowers in bloom, there is no point to flying outside of the hive, hence no pollen or nectar is available and the cold could kill them. The colder the outside temperature, the more compact the cluster becomes.

Clustering is a great idea – the objective being to simply keep warm – so warm in fact – the temperature in the centre of this cluster, where the Queen Bee stays, is kept at about 80 (F). The outer edge of the cluster is about 46 to 48 (F).

The worker bees create heat by shivering and they also move back and forth between the inner part of the cluster and the outer part.  We think that this is a great example of a community working together, thinking of each other and sharing with the ultimate aim – keeping the cold at bay!

Here at Lingfield Point, with concierge, cafes and break out areas, a welcoming smile and jolly hello brings warmth to our business community … and makes all the difference to our friends and colleagues …. especially on these freezing cold days of February!

 

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Categories: General

Lingfield Point supports Darlington’s Foundation for Jobs »

We were delighted to host the launch of Darlington’s Foundation for Jobs at Meadow at Lingfield Point and fully support the Bishop of Durham’s rallying call for North East businesses to help create a future for young people.

A great Darlington initiative

The Right Reverend Justin Welby has become patron of this initiative and has taking the opportunity to call for business leaders, educationalists and attendees to boost the job prospects of the under 25s.

John Orchard, director of Lingfield Point, said, “This is a fantastic initiative and one of the things we have found by teaming up with Darlington College – which runs an apprenticeship scheme – is that some of our companies have a need for more new entrants.  Some companies have had a problem recruiting people that were business ready so we set up a partnership with the college to ensure our companies could get business-ready candidates”.

Darlington Foundation for Jobs will establish formal links between schools and employers; provide internships; increase the number of apprentices and encourage young entrepreneurs whilst showcasing young job-seekers and Lingfield Point has pledged its moral support to this town-wide initiative.

So how can you help….?  Want to pledge support; create school links, internships or even apprenticeships or become involved in the Darlington Foundation for Jobs? Contact Seth.pearson@darlington.gov.uk to pledge your support. 

Let’s give our young people the opportunity of a future.

 

 

 

 

 

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Categories: General

Hop on to our new bus service – Lingfield Point to Darlington town centre and beyond »

We’re over the moon to welcome the bus 1/1b to Lingfield Point.  Starting on 3 January, this regular half hour service will call at three stops around our 107 acre business park and will be able to serve our 1800 customers working here.

Our new bus service - 1/1b

Part funded by Department of Transport, this joint initiative between Darlington Borough Council and Arriva means Lingfield Point is one of the most accessible business parks in the North East thanks to the additional buses that also pass the main entrance to our park.  We’re proud of the fact that this now gives us an unrivalled service every 10 MINUTES into Darlington.

The service also offers great value to customers living on the outskirts of Darlington as the extended bus service calls at Cockerton, Heighington, Bishop Auckland, Crook and Tow Law.

You’ll be able to find more information on this fantastic new service by clicking on the about section within this website and then clicking on public transport where downloads of background information and even a timetable is available for download.

When we hear that a weekly out of town ticket costs only £25.50 and that if we all switched to just one journey in 25 from car to bus, there would be one billion fewer car journeys made on our roads!

So what are you waiting for … Hop on a bus!

 

 

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Categories: General

A great plug for our new bus service »

Arriva bus drivers and employees from Student Finance England and NAAFI at Lingfield Point helped launch the new bus link, service 1/1b by introducing a new hybrid vehicle to a 3ft wide electrical plug.

Welcoming our new bus service to Lingfield Point

We’re over the moon to welcome the new hybrid buses soon to be trialled on the extended bus service 1/1b with its new terminus of Lingfield Point. Stopping at three locations around Lingfield Point, this new service will take you into town every 30 minutes.  This, in addition to the regular service running past Lingfield Point, means our neighbourhood is one of the best served, most accessible business parks in the region.

Local bus company Arriva North East will be trialling a new hybrid vehicle on the newly extended 1,1b service from this January.  The current route runs from Tow Law, Crook and Bishop Auckland to Darlington Town Centre and  from 2 January will be extended to Lingfield Point via Darlington College/University, funded by the Department for Transport through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

The bus being trialled on the route is a state-of-the-art vehicle which is powered using an electric engine. If the trial proves a success the company will take delivery of 7 new hybrid vehicles in the summer of 2012.

The investment comes following a partnership between Arriva North East and ourselves working with Team Local Motion to champion even more environmentally-friendly means of transport being available to the people of Darlington.

Nigel Featham, Managing Director for Arriva North East, said: “The extension of the service will ensure that we continue to improve our customers’ journey experience, and the testing of the hybrid vehicle is another real benefit for the area. We know that value for money and reliability are very important to our customers, however more and more we are hearing that the environment is another key consideration.”

Councillor David Lyonette, Darlington Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport said ” The Department of Transport funding will benefit people locally and regionally by providing improved access to education as the route now extends past Darlington College and the University, and to jobs at Lingfield Point too, which will assist future economic development. I’m delighted Team Local Motion has been able to secure this development.”

We think it’s great news that this service is being extended to include our community. It is important that our site is well-served by buses, with over 1,800 staff based at Lingfield Point, and a great deal of them living in and around Darlington,  it will certainly make the choice to travel to work by bus far easier.

For Lingfield Point to be served by hybrid buses is very appropriate as it fits perfectly with our ethos of sustainability – and the vision of our masterplan – setting out to make Lingfield Point one of the most environmentally-friendly developments in the UK .

So don’t forget your new year’s resolution … hop on our new bus service …. you’d be surprised how easy it really is!

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Categories: General

Fruits of our labour »

There’s a great deal happening at Gro zone on the east side of Lingfield Point.

Darlington Friends of the Earth and friends have been working hard this summer, improving gro zone and developing a new allotment garden for us all to enjoy. The new growing spaces are now ready and we look forward to watching a beautiful garden flourish over the next year.

Come and join us digging for victory

Kendra and Darlington Friends of the Earth has had a number of successful grant applications and have used it to create some very special raised beds and some rabbit proof perimeter fencing (Farmer McGregor would have been proud!).

Kendra writes that allotment gardening has never been so easy as it is here, she has provided spaces that people can simply start growing produce in without lots of effort.

Friends of the Earth Darlington have transformed our little piece of land, thanks to the helping hands of the National Friends of the Earth Grant Schemes and the generosity of John Wades Group, Todds and Jewsons of Darlington.  650 wildlife friendly hedging trees have been planted thanks to the Wildlife Trust’s MOREwoods Scheme helping to create a barrier against the biting wind of nature and provide more local food for our hungry bees and wildlife.

 

Raised beds are great way of learning the art of gardening - without the hard work

Thanks to the teams of apprentices from Urban Blitz of Nordic Pioneer, Friends of the Earth Darlington have now been able to create 3 types of plots but  we’re also looking at renovating the much loved on site greenhouse – providing a great spot for people to meet and see whats growing and ready to harvest at lunch time or after work. We are looking to renovate the disused cold frames which will help bring on our little seedlings during the early months of Spring.

Plans for next year including the creation of a community garden ‘A Garden’- a community vegetable garden,  and a flower garden supporting our lovely little bees in ‘Garden Bee’ !

Darlington Friends of the Earth, are  now offering plots on this new  allotment garden and hope that with the generosity of growers, the flourishing of seeds and produce, the greenhouse and A Garden will become the engine plant room for DIG (Darlington Its Growing). A local food growing initiative .

    If you want to be involved in the development of our Gro Zone or wish to access one of our new raised beds, feel free to contact Kendra Ullyart; Coordinator Darlington FoE,  07804 905 808

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Categories: General

Wayne Hemingway speaks his mind! »

Wayne Hemingway in the affordable apartments he designed for key workers in Manchester. Photo: Don McPhee.

Owners of Lingfield Point,  Marchday, are  big fans of the Fashion Trendsetter turned Community Guru Wayne Hemingway. We’re really impressed by the special qualities Wayne’s company Hemingwaydesign brought to the Taylor Wimpey scheme, Staiths Southbank in Gateshead.

Space for people to get together.

The scheme reminded us of much of the good stuff we saw in Malmo, Sweden earlier this year where the design of the space for community interaction between the buildings is given equal importance to the design of the buildings themselves.

We share many values in relation to creating communities, regeneration and design and read with interest Wayne’s recent comments about successful communities in The Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/housing-network/2011/sep/27/people-decent-housing-successful-communities?INTCMP=SRCH

We’re excited about creating the first new homes at Lingfield Point next year and making real the sustainable mixed community around our existing business community. We hope Mr Hemingway would approve of our plans!

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Categories: General

Sunny outlook for our latest customer at Lingfield Point »

We’re pleased to welcome a whole host of new customers here at Lingfield Point including space one company’s drive to expand their business.

AEL Systems, which installs, maintains and designs electrical, fire safety and security products have now moved to Lingfield Point.

Eddie welcomes one of our latest customers - AEL

Lee Willis, 38 from Darlington, started the company in 2002 and says the move to Lingfield Point has given him the business space he needs to expand the company into solar energy. A field he has been keen to move in to for a while.

Lee said: “Lingfield Point is ideal for us. Not only is it cost effective but it meets the business needs.

“Before moving here we only had office space. Now we’ve got enough office space to run the business efficiently but also warehousing space to store our products, as well as train our team of electricians.”

AEL Systems has leased a space at Lingfield Point which combines 1,000sqft office suite and a 1,000sqft of warehousing. The combination of office and industrial space has meant that the company can expand.

Lee said: “We have invested in providing renewable energy systems to the domestic and commercial market. Now we are in the process of completing all the necessary training to achieve accreditation.

“The warehouse facility will be invaluable for this, meaning we can do our own in-house training.”

AEL Systems currently employs 15 members of staff, four office based and 11 field engineers and electricians. The growth into solar panel installation will see the company employ an additional four electricians.

Eddie Humphries, estate manager at Lingfield Point said: “We always work with our customers to ensure we can provide precisely what they need. This is the beauty of Lingfield Point. We have the variety of buildings, the vision and the scope to create bespoke business spaces.

“Lee has combined an office suite with warehousing to store products and train his team. We are thrilled that the move has enabled him to move in to a new area of the business and will always be on hand to help him out however we can. ”

For more information on how Lingfield Point can help with your office and warehousing needs, just call us on 01325 486486.

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