Work set to begin on Bristol eco-village

Demolition work to make way for an eco-village in Hanham is due to start during the first week of November.

The ground-breaking scheme will see 195 zero-carbon homes being built on the site of the derelict Hanham Hall hospital.

Buildings on the site will be torn down and the material crushed and reused for the new homes.

The demolition work is expected to take about eight weeks with building work scheduled to start early next year.

The new homes will use energy-efficient materials to conserve power and water.

The heat from the air extracted from the homes will be recycled.

Rainwater will be collected so it can be used in the homes and on gardens.

Householders will have access to allotments and orchards to grow their own produce.

Hanham Hall, off Whittucks Road, is a former hospital building which is currently boarded up and will be turned into a community centre to include a café, crèche, and the base for a car club.

A trust will be set up to manage the day-to-day upkeep of the neighbourhood and building maintenance, also organising gardening clubs and a car-sharing scheme. This comes as the Government announced the locations of four new eco-towns.

They are Rackheath, in Norfolk; north west Bicester, in Oxfordshire; Whitehill Bordon, in East Hants; and the China Clay Community near St Austell, in Cornwall.

The first homes are expected to be ready sometime next year.