A DEVELOPMENT of 24 affordable homes on the site of a former Somerset primary school is finished.

The scheme, built by housing provider Stonewater, has been built on the site formerly occupied by Park Junior School, in Yeovil.

It has been renamed Park Gardens.

The old Park Junior buildings fell derelict following the school’s move to the former Chilton Cantelo School, near Ilchester, in 2018.

Now, it has been redeveloped with help from £1 million of funding from Homes England, with a mix of flats and houses for affordable rent and shared ownership.

Stonewater worked in partnership with South Somerset District Council, building contractors Winsley White Ltd, surveyors Taylor Lewis and architects Boon Brown on the development.

Park Gardens comprises six two-bedroom flats, six two-bedroom and two three-bedroom houses for affordable rent, along with four two-bedroom and six three-bedroom houses for shared ownership.

Matt Crucefix, Stonewater’s director of development (south and west), said: “We are delighted to have completed building work on Park Gardens and look forward to welcoming our new residents.

“The scheme not only provides desperately needed affordable homes for local people, it has also transformed this previously run-down site, breathing new life into the community.

“With regional house prices out of reach for many families in the area, we aim to provide affordable opportunities for people to live in a high-quality home – and, through shared ownership, potentially realise their dream of homeownership.”

Cllr Val Keitch, Leader of South Somerset District Council and portfolio holder for housing, said: “The Park Gardens development brings many benefits, but most importantly, it helps to provide affordable homes to local people.

“Delivering homes on this former derelict site has enabled Stonewater to create a community where people will want to live and thrive and as a district council, we support this type of development.”

And Sam Winsley, director at Winsley White, said: “It shows the strength of our working relationship with Stonewater that we were all able to pull together and get this site completed during unprecedented times.

"The pandemic brought new challenges for us all. We are very proud of our part in the development and hope that the new families enjoy their new homes.”