Sustainability thread

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

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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Categories: General

Plans now on show for exciting new phase of development at Lingfield Point »

Marchday, owners of Lingfield Point, welcomed Taylor Wimpey and leading architects, John R Paley Associates to canteen where plans for the first phase of residential development have been unveiled.

Exciting new homes proposed at Lingfield Point

Plans for the development of 270 homes in the first phase of the exciting £100million masterplan have now gone on show at Lingfield Point.  This first phase of homes will form part of 1,200 homes, sports facilities, a school, health services and plenty of green space for the local community to enjoy.

John Orchard, director of Marchday, said “This is the first phase of making the masterplan happen and it’s really exciting.  We want the new homes to be family-friendly and to use the lessons learned from some of the best housing schemes in Europe. Most people agree that we’ve created some outstanding office buildings at Lingfield Point, now we intend to create some truly outstanding homes too.”

Andrew Paley, from the team of architects supporting Taylor Wimpey said that the development team had visited similar projects in places as far away as Malmo in Sweden for design and inspiration.  The team want space between the homes to be as important as the buildings and added “This is not just a housing estate – the neighbourhood deserves its own character and we looked across Europe to see how we could improve life at home and build it into the plans at Lingfield Point.

“Its not often that the developer is involved in a scheme where design is such a high priority; it’s very exciting to be part it” said Andrew.

We couldn’t agree more!

To see plans for the first phase of our new neighbourhood, pop into canteen at Lingfield Point where plans are on show until 3 August or log onto www.jrpassoc.co.uk to view and comment.

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Categories: General

Marchday announce their residential development partner at Lingfield Point »

We’re delighted to announce that Marchday will work with development partner Taylor Wimpey to deliver the first phase of new homes in the delivery of the next vital stage of the sustainable mixed community here at Lingfield Point.

Exciting new homes proposed at Lingfield Point

Taylor Wimpey will build 270 homes in this first phase as part of the overall £100m masterplan vision.

Taylor Wimpey and Marchday are inviting the public to have their say on the latest plans and are hosting a public consultation event on Wednesday, July 13 from 3pm to 7pm and then on for two weeks until July 27 between 8am to 4pm each day in ‘Canteen’ the on site cafe at Lingfield Point.

John Orchard, director of Marchday, the owners of Lingfield Point, said:

“It is fantastic to be working with a company like Taylor Wimpey which has delivered some of the most exciting new homes developments in the UK in recent years, including the award-winning Staiths development on the South Bank of the Tyne at Gateshead, where they worked with top designer Wayne Hemingway.

“These will be the first new homes built in east Darlington for sometime and they will live up to our ethos of modern, low carbon, sustainable development in keeping with our visionary masterplan for the site drawn up by FAT architects.

“We want the new homes to be family-friendly and to use the lessons learned from some of the best housing schemes in Europe. Most people agree that we’ve created some outstanding office buildings at Lingfield Point, now we intend to create some truly outstanding homes too.”

Iain Pay, Associate Land Director of Taylor Wimpey North Yorkshire, said:

“Taylor Wimpey is very excited to be part of this great creation at Lingfield Point. This first phase of housing will be another key building block in creation of this visionary and truly sustainable community.

“A lot of time and thought has gone into the nature of the design of the houses and their surrounding environment, and we are exceptionally pleased with the end product. We are looking forward to revealing this to the public.”

So, come on down and have your say. Building is expected to start in the New Year and homes will be ready for occupation by the middle of next year.

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Categories: General

A Growing Success »

If a picture paints a thousand words, the latest in a series of massive photographic public artworks displayed at Lingfield Point, Darlington, says all there is to say about the ethos of our neighbourhood.

‘Potato’, shows a gardener planting the vegetable depicting Lingfield Point’s modern take on the ‘good life’ with its plans for a low carbon, sustainable live/work community.

Potato - the latest image for Futurescope, Lingfield Point

The 45ft diameter photograph is part of the successful ‘Futurescope’ project and can be seen from one of the main routes through the town by thousands of people everyday.

‘Potato’ is the sixth image in the Futurescope series and shows allotment holder Judith Ithurralde who works at Darlington College planting potatoes.

Christian Barnes, director of Vista Projects and architect John Kennedy are the creative force behind Futurescope. Christian said: “Futurescope focuses on sustainability, the living and working environment and the emotional connection people have with the place.

“We took hundreds of pictures when with the allotment holders but this one had particular resonance for us.

“It depicts the simple act of planting a vegetable – but it represents more than that.  The picture also aims to raise the profile of a green initiative at Lingfield Point that is being run by volunteers and the Friends of the Earth.

“We want to encourage others to take up allotments on the site. For a company rather than a council to make allotments available like this and to work with a third sector organisation to do it is a very unusual thing and it fits with a vision for the future that is being developed locally at Lingfield Point.

“While this artwork is being displayed those plants are all growing on site the picture will maintain a link with the the moments in which they were plantedAnd at pretty much the same time as the piece is being taken down those potatoes will be harvested and eaten..”

John Orchard, director of Marchday Group, owners of Lingfield Point said: “The latest installation is a fantastic addition to the Futurescope project. It’s a representation of all that we are hoping to achieve at Lingfield Point.

“We want the public art at Lingfield Point to be exciting, thought provoking and create interest and intrigue. Futurescope does just that, not just for people working at Lingfield Point but for thousands of people driving past everyday.”

“Our masterplan will take the site back to the pioneering spirit of Patons and Baldwins who all those years ago worked really hard to create a community were people could walk to work, drop off their kids eat good food and generally enjoy a true community spirit.

“This new community built around the existing business space will eventually include eco-homes a school, parkland, sports pitches, a health centre, shops and restaurants.

“We are creating a 21st century vision of the good life – and we are well on our way to achieving this.”

The site is home to some of the most significant businesses in the North East including the Student Loan Company, Capita, Xentrall Shared Services and NAAFI.

Previous Futurescope installations have proved a major talking point and have so far included ‘Sunflowers’, ‘Lingfield Lamb’, ‘Beeman’, ‘The Sun’ and most recently,  ‘HUM!’ the piece that ‘Potato’ will be replacing.

For more information on our plans for the future, simply get in touch by visting the contact page on website, www.lingfieldpoint.co.uk

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