We've have created the Meon Vale Place Book, a digital book dedicated to everything we think is great about Meon Vale; the homes, the history, the wildlife, the walkways and cycleways, the school, and the community. In this, you’ll find a helpful directory of all the people, groups and places to contact should you have any questions about living in Meon Vale and the surrounding areas.
View PlacebookBringing forward new proposals
We want to help make Meon Vale an even better place to live, work and thrive. That’s why St. Modwen has been developing some exciting plans for the village’s outside spaces and ideas about how we can work with the community to shape the long-term vision for Meon Vale.
Playgrounds, woodland and green open spaces
Earlier this year we ran a short survey asking residents for their comments about what they would like to see included in proposals for new playgrounds and potential enhancements to the woodland and green open spaces around Meon Vale.
We were grateful to receive lots of positive, enthusiastic feedback and creative thinking and have been busy using this to inform our designs.
The plans are now being finalised for the new play spaces, which will be located on the edge of the woodland and include areas to suit both younger and older children.
At the same time we’ve been continuing to bring forward some enhancements across Meon Vale’s outdoor space and thinking about how the woodland can be managed in the longer-term. We have a range of opportunities and biodiversity initiatives that the community could take forward – and would like to hear if you want to get involved.
New community facilities, working together
As well as the outdoor spaces, we want to develop a strategy for improving the wider facilities at Meon Vale for the long-term benefit of the community. This could include how the community hall, pavilion and sports pitches are used. We’re also exploring the possibility of providing a remote working facility for residents to access.
We’ve already been working with a number of local groups including the Meon Vale Working Group and Meon Vale Residents Association to gather some suggestions for initiatives and services that could be provided at the village.
How to get involved
On the 25th September we held a community event at Meon Vale, presenting some proposals and inviting the community’s feedback and ideas about the future of the village.
You can see the information that was on display by clicking here along with some indicative images of the play equipment here.
If you have any queries or would like to get involved in the future of Meon Vale, including helping to take forward new initiatives at the village, please get in touch via MeonValeEstates@stmodwen.co.uk.
Formerly known as the Long Marston Estate, the Meon Vale site was previously owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and was occupied by the Army Engineering Corp. It was acquired by St. Modwen in 2004. Meon Vale’s 478 acres are situated off the B4632, equidistant between Stratford-upon-Avon and the beautiful Cotswold town of Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire.
St. Modwen’s vision for Meon Vale is to create a vibrant, self-contained and sustainable mixed-use development, including an extension of Greenway from Stratford upon Avon, through the site.
Meon Vale already benefits from:
Planning permission for the first 500 homes was obtained in 2010, and a further 550 homes were granted planning permission in 2015 taking the total consent to 1050 houses, 35% of which is affordable housing. Planning permission for the new primary school also formed part of the latest consent. The £5m Meon Vale Leisure Centre opened in August 2014 and includes the latest gym equipment, a multi-purpose sports hall, a wide range of workout classes and an all-weather sports pitch. Simultaneously, the central facilities on site also opened, including a shop, community centre, public open space, children’s play area and skate park, as well as a 1-mile Greenway extension into Stratford-upon-Avon. Following delays associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Modwen is working closely with the Parish Council to allocate the new allotments, and open a community café in the Pavilion, as soon as possible.
Since obtaining outline planning permission in 2010, St. Modwen has been working with local stakeholders including Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Warwickshire County Council, local residents and parish councillors to deliver the mixed-use scheme, which continues to be successfully developed.
The masterplan seeks to create a vibrant, self-contained, self-sufficient village. The realisation of this vision is well underway, maximising the value of a sustainable location on a rural brownfield site for new housing, employment, leisure and community assets.
Our vision is to create a self-sufficient village at Meon Vale where residential, leisure and employment areas are brought together by a central leisure and community hub.
Located half way between the idyllic towns of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire, Meon Vale is ideally located for enjoying Shakespeare’s birthplace and the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Uniting all elements of the development is the central leisure and community hub offering a range of facilities including:
The housing mix now includes:
Offering a range of homes designed to appeal to first time buyers, as well as growing families, St. Modwen is creating a diverse and sustainable community at Meon Vale, helping ensure that local people can continue to live and work in the area. St. Modwen Homes at Meon Vale offers a superb collection of 3, 4 and 5 bedroom homes, all of which are designed to our high standards, including designer kitchens and contemporary bathrooms, as well as high ceilings and large windows throughout.
Residential CommunityMeon Vale Business Park provides a very secure environment with 24-hour security via a manned gatehouse. On site accommodation includes warehouse and industrial units of between 10,000 and 90,000 sq ft.
Our Business Park
Meon Vale has been designed to promote walking, cycling and public transport as realistic modes of travel for more people, while recognising the continued prevalence of journeys made by car. As the site continues to develop steps are being taken to support:
Retention of Trees - The mature belts of trees located on the edge of the site, and those located at the site’s entrance and within the south eastern and north western parts of the site, will be retained where practical. Public access to 35 acres of onsite woodland is provided.
Meon Vale has been sensitively designed to minimise the impact on local wildlife by retaining important habitats and maintaining or improving pathways to enable species to move freely within the site.
St. Modwen has demonstrated its commitment to ecology at Meon Vale with habitat enhancement to protect the rare and endangered Grizzled Skipper butterfly, having won the national Marsh Award for the “Promotion of Lepidoptera”.
Further work to enhance habitats for water vole, bats, birds, grass snakes and great crested newts on the site is also proving to be successful.
Overall, with careful design and St. Modwen’s commitment to ongoing management of wildlife habitats, biodiversity at Meon Vale is continuing to increase with each new phase of the development. These net gains include:
Wetland creation and habitat enhancement: Several habitat enhancing measures have been successfully incorporated into the development including naturalising and enhancing the existing ditch network, pond creation, and wetland and wildflower grassland creation. This has enhanced the site for a variety of protected species, in particular for water voles, birds and bats.
Species protection: We have increased the number of roosting opportunities for bats with the construction of two new bat houses, and creation of new roost features on trees and new buildings. Dark habitat corridors are retained to enable bats to move between retained and newly created feeding grounds and roosts.
Our surveys confirm that ecology has improved at the site over the last decade, which appears to be as a direct result of development. St. Modwen will continue to provide ongoing management in order to support the ecological value and the community’s enjoyment of Meon Vale.
December 2020
The St. Modwen team of Guy Gusterson, Dinny Shaw and Jess Holt would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has engaged with us regarding Meon Vale Phase 5. Without exception, feedback has been constructive and heart-felt.
Our initial proposals for housing described what could technically be achievable on the site. However, we promised to go into this engagement process entirely open-minded in order to balance the views of the community with the local area’s housing needs.
We have listened and understand the value of the woodland and open space to residents, particularly at a time when the importance of access to such spaces for health and wellbeing has been highlighted by the pandemic. There has been a common voice and it is one that has been heard loud and clear.
With that in mind, we have decided to withdraw proposals for any new homes to be built on this part of the site (identified in the SAP as Rural.4) due to the importance of this amenity space to the local community.
21 October 2020
“St. Modwen welcomes the council’s decision to consult on their draft Site Allocations Plan, which includes a draft allocation for further housing at Meon Vale.
“We are proud of our achievements and commitment to Meon Vale to date, having carefully transformed the former military site and opened up access to a lot of previously inaccessible green spaces. On top of creating new homes, community spaces and leisure facilities, we have significantly boosted the natural environment and overseen gains in biodiversity and the protection of local wildlife habits. We understand the importance of health and wellbeing, especially amidst the current pandemic, and want to work with the community to ensure recreation spaces are improved as a result of any further development.
“The whole St. Modwen team is acutely aware of the difficult balancing act between addressing the climate emergency and meeting the nation’s housing need. As a responsible developer we are dedicated to consistently reducing net carbon wherever possible, and have clear public commitments to be operationally and fully net zero carbon.
“We want to be clear that St. Modwen is committed to a “plan-led” approach by working in partnership with the council, key stakeholders and the local community to agree a suitable policy allocation, against which, and following further consultation, a planning application can be prepared and submitted.
“Any considerations to date have been made in response to the local authority’s call for sites because they asked landowners to put forward options that are unconstrained and therefore deliverable. This is in line with normal processes and is required because of the local area’s acute housing requirements.
“Any proposals prepared to date are only conceptual and are not a committed scheme and will be subject to further consultation and assessment. Here is a summary of some of our considerations to date:
“The team is grateful to those residents who have already got in touch to raise their initial concerns and we look forward to engaging with the whole community on a regular basis, throughout the upcoming consultation and beyond, so that every resident has a chance to shape the future of Meon Vale, to not just sustain but further improve the community for everyone’s benefit.
“We would ask that any questions or comments are directed to meonvaleestates@stmodwen.co.uk.”
31 March 2015
This next phase of development at the site will include 192 affordable homes to cater for local need, and the primary school will be single form and feature a hall and library, kitchen and dining facilities, information and technology infrastructure and playing fields.
Built on a former MoD site, Meon Vale is already a thriving community. More than 100 new homes are now complete and occupied on the site with another 100 to be completed over the next year. A public square and village hall, the Meon Vale Leisure Centre, a convenience store, a children’s play area and skate park, as well as the new number 24 bus service were all delivered as part of the first phase. St. Modwen also extended Stratford-upon-Avon’s flagship five mile long public cycle and footpath, The Greenway, for a further mile through Meon Vale and opened up 35 acres of woodland and parts of the previously culverted Quinton Brook.
Richard Hickman, planning manager at St. Modwen said:
9th February 2015
The new one mile extension running through St. Modwen’s new Meon Vale community at Long Marston is fast becoming a magnet for children, cyclists, joggers and dog walkers who want to enjoy some fresh air in a safe, car-free environment. The Greenway, Stratford-Upon-Avon’s flagship cycle and footpath, has long been a popular amenity, but St. Modwen is putting the success of the new extension down to the availability of free parking, nearby facilities and scenic views. Peter Rudd, senior development surveyor at St. Modwen, said: “Our Greenway extension has become something of a hotspot for children learning to ride their bikes and people taking exercise. “Feedback suggests families like the countryside setting and the fact they can park up free of charge and use the facilities at Meon Vale Leisure Centre. The path has a safe, non-slip gravel surface and many people will continue along The Greenway to complete the 10 mile round trip to Stratford town centre. “The experience is set to get better early next year. A new convenience store is set to open in January where people will be able grab a coffee. We will also be opening up 35 acres of woodland for people to explore and have a picnic.” Since St. Modwen started developing the Meon Vale site in 2013, considerable investment has been made to deliver 302 homes by St. Modwen Homes and Persimmon; a public square and village hall; the Meon Vale Leisure Centre, a children’s play area and skate park and the new number 24 bus service linking the village with Stratford-upon-Avon and Evesham.
24th September 2014
The number 24 bus runs from Stratford to Evesham, stopping at Meon Vale, Lower Quinton, Chipping Campden and Broadway along the way. It leaves Meon Vale at 10:28, 13:28 and 16:58, Monday to Saturday. The route is operated by Johnsons and has been funded by a £460,000 contribution by Meon Vale developer St. Modwen. Johnsons is also increasing the services of its number 21, 22, 23 and 25 buses which each stop at Meon Vale to improve travel links for residents. The number 21 runs from Stratford to Moreton-in-Marsh rail station stopping at Chipping Campden and Broadway and leaves Meon Vale at 09:28, 12:28, 15:31 and 17:28 with a special service at 08:42 purely to serve Lower Quinton Primary School. The number 22 runs from Stratford to Moreton-In-Marsh rail station, leaving Meon Vale at 08:21, 11:28, 14:23 and 18:28 with a service at 07:28 for Chipping Campden School. The number 23 service, running to Shipston and Whichford, stops at Meon Vale at 09:58, 11:58, 13:58 and 16:35. For greater detail on the bus timetables visit www.johnsonscoaches.co.uk or download this PDF here.
8th March 2014
St. Modwen was featured in The Telegraph on Saturday 8th March 2014, in connection with the 10-year anniversary of its regeneration of Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent. The development is an example of how St. Modwen has worked to create an inspirational and successful leisure environment for local residents and visitors based on a long term vision of sustainable development.