An experienced award-winning site manager has re-joined Bellway to lead on the delivery of a flagship new development on the edge of Cardiff.
Paul Oakley has returned to the five-star housebuilder to take charge of the Longwood Grange site in Lisvane, where Bellway is building 270 homes off Maerdy Lane.
The 47-year-old, who previously worked for Bellway between 2007 and 2013, has been a site manager in the housebuilding sector for 20 years – during which time he has picked up a string of prestigious industry accolades.
A winner of four successive National House Building Council (NHBC) Pride in the Job Quality Awards, Paul – who lives just outside of Cardiff – is also the current holder of the Pride in the Job Regional Award for Wales in recognition of his work at the Goitre Fach development on the western outskirts of the city.
And after taking the reins at his first development since re-joining Bellway, he is determined to make Longwood Grange another award-winning site.
Paul said: “The temptation of returning to Bellway and playing a major part in this site was the key to making this decision. A lot of the same people are here and it is like I have never been away. I have settled in very well and hit the ground running with a dedicated and hard-working team.
“The first aim is to successfully launch the site in the autumn of this year and to ensure that there is real consistency and quality within the build. I am looking to help the company win an NHBC award in 2022 and with the help and support of all the contractors and Bellway team, deliver a regional award at this site.
“I’m pleased to be back working for Bellway and it is important to me that the company gets the recognition and achievements that it deserves.”
The NHBC Pride in the Job Award scheme recognises best practice by site managers at new-build developments across the country. The winners are decided by a comprehensive judging process which includes series of spot checks covering a range of criteria from technical skills and quality workmanship to customer service and site safety.
Longwood Grange will form part of the wider 1,000-home Churchlands consortium development. Bellway will build 216 homes for private sale and 54 affordable properties for local people.
The housebuilder is set to open three showhomes at the development in October, with the first homes due to go on sale in the same month.
Paul added: “We are currently in the process of excavating the site to ensure the ground is flat, work has begun on the main access road, and we have also started on the foundations of the first plots.
“It has been a busy start so far and there are some alterations that have needed to be made, but we are fully on track. We need to ensure that the site is moving well, and I am confident that we will remain on schedule. I am looking forward to building the homes as we will have a good mix of product on site, including some very large executive properties with big plots.
“The site has a lot of potential. It is in a very quiet location with great views across farmland and towards Cardiff city centre. Lisavane is an extremely affluent and desirable area, so we are expecting this to be a highly sought-after development.”
Bellway has achieved five-star builder status with the Home Builders Federation (HBF) for the fifth successive year in 2021. The award demonstrates that over 90 per cent of Bellway’s customers who completed the HBF’s National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey would recommend the housebuilder to a friend.
Paul and his team will be building a range of two, three, four and five-bedroom houses for private sale at Longwood Grange, as well as a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments and two and three-bedroom houses for affordable rent and shared ownership.
For more information about Longwood Grange, visit bellway.co.uk.