UK Organisation Becomes Environmental Hero

Monday 5th December 2011

Four Housing Group, based in Durham, have been awarded an International Green Apple Environment Award in recognition for their project partnership with the Holy Island of Lindisfarne Community Development Trust. The winning environmental affordable housing scheme is at Green Lane, Holy Island.

This follows the Group's successful win of the regional Gold Green Apple Award and adds to a host of other development awards won during 2011.

The award was presented by The Green Organisation at their 18th annual awards ceremony at the House of Commons during November.

The judges commented, "There is a chronic shortage of affordable housing on The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, and an unwritten law to protect its environmental culture and heritage. This development features a unique foundation system to protect sensitive archaeology for future study, and a flexibility to allow for the changing needs of growing families."

The scheme has provided four much-needed three-bedroom homes to enable local people to continue living on the Island. The Community Land Trust was the first in the country to receive funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Four Housing Group worked to help develop the new homes on Holy Island, which is designated entirely as a rural exceptional site. As part of the partnership Berwick Borough Housing, Four Housing's subsidiary housing association operating in Northumberland, provides housing management support and a 24-hour repair service.

The Green Apple Awards are presented annually in recognition of companies, councils and communities carrying outprojects that enhance environment and there were more than 500 nominations this year. The award-winning project will be featured in the next Green Book, the world's only work of reference on environmental best practice.

Four Housing Group is the parent company of Berwick Borough Housing and Three Rivers Housing. It operates throughout the region to provide a range of housing options. It has recently started a large-scale regeneration and development project at School Street, Hebburn, and has completed an affordable housing and shared ownership development at Shotton, Durham.

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