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00:00Good afternoon people of Somerset. It's Daniel Mumby here, your local democracy reporter.
00:06Welcome to the Rainbow Way development on the eastern edge of Minehead,
00:11where new council houses are currently being constructed.
00:14The first new council houses in Minehead for a generation.
00:17And we're being given an exclusive look around by this fine young lady.
00:20Please introduce yourself for our readers.
00:22Hello, my name's Alex Williams. I'm one of the development officers.
00:25I'm currently working on the North Country Railway project, as well as the Rainbow Way project.
00:30And you're lucky you've got a lovely sunny day here today to come and look at the new houses.
00:34If you want to come on in, this is a two bed.
00:37So Alex is going to be taking us right through, ahead of a public event that starts at 2 o'clock.
00:41We've been given an exclusive first look around.
00:44And hopefully the acoustics will mean you can pick up as much of everything as we can take.
00:48So talk us through room by room. Where are we at the moment?
00:51Just by mentioning, we do have an open day event, as you said.
00:54And this is what we're all set up for today.
00:56So we've got our contractors, Classic, here to answer any questions.
01:01And the team here from the Somerset Council to speak to any prospective tenants of these new properties
01:08that have got that local connection.
01:10So that's starting at 2 o'clock.
01:12Excellent.
01:13But we are now, this would be the living room portion.
01:17Dining, living area.
01:19And as you can see, it's loads of lovely bright windows.
01:23I think that's one good reason to design Edmonds for this project.
01:26You've also got your triple glazed.
01:28So everything in here is to make it zero carbon.
01:32So you've got triple glazed windows and really good air tightness in all these properties.
01:37You are able to pan up.
01:39You can also see one of the NVHR, which is your mechanical heat ventilation system ducts,
01:46which takes the stale air out of the property and then ducts nice fresh air back in.
01:52So that's another one of our energy saving energy technologies.
01:58We've got to try and make these properties as air tight as possible.
02:01If you move on through in this direction, you've got the kitchen.
02:07The kitchen obviously again has got the NVHR ducts and an extra extractor fan as well for where the ovens go.
02:16And I actually think that the design of this kitchen is really, really nice.
02:19Picked by our development manager, Wendy.
02:22And yeah, just lovely big windows.
02:25I wouldn't mind washing my dishes here.
02:29I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't.
02:30Before we go upstairs, we should mention a little bit more about that sort of net zero low carbon construction,
02:36because the idea behind this is not just that they are relatively cheap in terms of rent and so forth,
02:42but actually there are things built in to keep the energy bills low in the long run.
02:46Yes, so the construction of the walls has been built as such with pyretherm bricks.
02:54I wanted to just double check that I had the name of that correct.
02:58With really great insulation and air tightness so that the property, once it is warm,
03:03should stay warm for longer and stay cool when it's cool to avoid having to get heat unnecessarily.
03:09So that's one of the major energy saving methods that's been put into the building of these properties.
03:17I can take you in and show you some more of the tech that we've got.
03:22Please do.
03:27That's my fault, just stumbling over something.
03:29Please be careful.
03:30Yeah, we are in full PPE, so there's no chance of me getting hurt live on camera.
03:33And hopefully nobody else will be as well.
03:35Under here, obviously we've got the electric meters and everything.
03:39But as you can see with this, we've got solar PV.
03:42So on the roof, you may not have been able to pop out there and maybe have a look later,
03:46there are solar panels inset into the property that will basically generate power for you as well,
03:52which is another one of the really good energy methods that we've got in these properties.
03:57The air source heat pump is out on the patio.
04:00We can't open the door today because it's a bit too unsafe.
04:03So we haven't finished.
04:04But you can see just here, you've got your air source heat pump.
04:07Which is your heating method for this property.
04:10Please watch your step.
04:12We won't go further than the patio, because like you say, this is still in the latter stages of construction
04:17and we don't want to get in anyone's way.
04:19No, and this will be a little bit back against the wall, so you won't be in the middle of the patio area.
04:24But this is obviously getting ready to be commissioned, so that will be another piece of software.
04:30So the solar panels that were on the roof, that was built into the design when the housing scheme was approved?
04:34It wasn't added as an afterthought?
04:36No, it's always been included from within the project, yes.
04:39And we should point out that Classic Builders, the company that's behind this,
04:42is doing the next stage of the Wooloway project in Taunton.
04:45Are you looking to include solar in that as well?
04:47Yes, just like the face day of our project, where we had solar panels on our bathroom
04:52to try to make the most of the solar that we have.
04:56We'll be doing that in the next phases.
04:58Excellent. Well, we will take a look upstairs now then.
05:01If you've only just joined us here on Somerset Live, it's Daniel Mumby.
05:04We're here in Minehead to have a look around the Rainbow Way Council Houses,
05:07the first new council houses that are being built in Minehead for a generation.
05:12And we should probably talk about the fact, as we head up into the first floor,
05:16that local residents are going to be given first priority for these new properties.
05:20Yes, those with a local connection is what we're looking for,
05:23so they need to live or work already in this area.
05:26And that's people who have family connections with the area as well?
05:29Yes, and the local connection is on the Home Plan Somerset website,
05:35so if you want to know where you are and you do have a local connection,
05:38click on there and that will give you the details.
05:40So this is, I believe, the master bedroom.
05:48Okay, we'll come back into this room in a little bit.
05:50As you were talking specifically about the energy measures,
05:53in here is the Dakin, which is the ground for the Airsoft Seat Pump,
05:59and this is your water tank to heat your water.
06:03And the water heats from the solar panels.
06:06So there's an inverter from the solar panels that goes into heating the water,
06:12so that's primarily what the solar is doing, it's making sure that you've got nice hot water.
06:19And also, in here, the NVHR unit, which is the Mechanical Heat Ventilation,
06:26as I mentioned, which draws in the fresh air from outside and ducts it into the house.
06:32It's a large amount of technology, but in a very compact setting,
06:35so you don't feel as though you've got wires running everywhere and endless trip hazards.
06:39No, no, it's all fairly handy.
06:43As you can see here, they've upset some of the things in the bathroom,
06:46like the heated towel rails, just to make sure that their towels are keeping the heat dry as quickly as possible,
06:53so that there's no moisture in the air, things like that.
06:56Very spacious shower and bath as well.
06:58Obviously, when people move in, they can sort of personalise it as best as they wish.
07:02It's come with non-slip flooring, standard.
07:04It's already installed to make sure it's slip-free and safe.
07:08Do we want to wander on into the next bedroom thing?
07:11If you do have any questions while we're streaming, please drop something in the comments
07:15and we will put them to Alex as best we can.
07:18Another very spacious room.
07:20Another very spacious room.
07:21I think you'd agree that the bedroom spaces are both doubles,
07:25and good for families, grown-up children as well as younger children.
07:32Plenty of socket and aerial points, an aerial point in every bedroom.
07:37Very good.
07:38Again, you can see the ducting feeling MPH higher on the wall.
07:42So there's no real risk of damp damage or any kind of moisture problems in the future, this house?
07:47No, some of the information tells us actually it's better to keep the window shut than let the MPH out of the shower.
07:52Really?
07:53Yeah.
07:54We should point out, it's about 20-odd degrees outside as I was driving over the A39 here,
07:58and it feels like we're in sort of early autumn in terms of how cool it is.
08:03Once it's cool, it stays cool. Once it's warm, it stays warm.
08:06That's the kind of idea with the air-tightness.
08:08The thing with the walls in these properties is we'd ask all tenants not to drill into the walls at all,
08:16because that would then stop the levels of air-tightness that we currently have.
08:21So try to use non-drill methods for the same thing on the walls, basically.
08:26You're allowed to put blue tack and so forth on if you have to,
08:29but just not anything bigger than a little tack for hanging a painting.
08:32Okay.
08:33Shall we go back through just to the other room to finish off?
08:38Is the loft space largely locked?
08:42That's all locked.
08:44Okay.
08:51Just so people know what they're expecting in terms of how much of the house is actually accessible.
08:59All of the properties are on storage hubbards that can be used.
09:02And there's also, you would agree, you've got the bed space,
09:06but you've also got quite a large space in these wardrobes as well.
09:09Yes.
09:12Lovely views.
09:13Yeah, we're just looking over the cricket club now with the fence that was put in place
09:18to stop errant cricket balls coming over and damaging the new houses.
09:21And what I believe is West Somerset College just over the way there?
09:25The secondary school?
09:26It's the secondary school, yes.
09:28So right in the catchment area.
09:30West Somerset College.
09:31Yeah, that's the one.
09:32Obviously, we're in a house that's got a stair from ground to first.
09:36Can you talk about the other properties and how many of those are wheelchair accessible?
09:41Let me just double check the...
09:43Two...
09:44Two...
09:45Two...
09:46Yeah.
09:47So they'll be wheelchair accessible.
09:49No problem.
09:50The ground floor flats have to be wheelchair accessible as well.
09:53Excellent.
09:54I think that would make three out of the 54 properties.
09:57OK.
09:58Well, we've shown you a pretty comprehensive around everywhere in the house that we can go.
10:01Obviously, the loft, like I say, is locked.
10:03I'm sure it would just be a case of looking at a lot of insulation and wires and...
10:06A bit short to get up there anyway.
10:08Well, we don't want to create any shorts by going up there with electrical equipment.
10:11But just to wrap things up, just remind us of the details of the drop-in event this afternoon
10:16and what people can expect and what happens next.
10:19So two o'clock this afternoon, we're all set up ready now to accept anybody
10:23who would like to come and have a look in person.
10:26And we're here till five o'clock.
10:28So if people want to come have a look around one of the properties
10:31so they can see what high spec they are, then they're obviously welcome to come.
10:36We're going to have somebody here from the Homefinder team
10:39if they have any queries or questions as regards to how they get one of these properties.
10:43As well as our development team and obviously our contractors are very firmly on site,
10:48as you can see as well, probably here in the background.
10:51It is obviously a building site, so please wait at the gates to be escorted in
10:56just for health and safety purposes.
10:58But yeah, we'd love to see as many people as possible come and have a look at one of these wonderful properties.
11:03Excellent. Well, thank you very much, Alex, for giving us the once-over.
11:06And please do come around from two till five if you have any further questions,
11:10particularly any of the technical questions that we haven't got to,
11:12whether it's about the solar or the heat pumps or anything like that.
11:15This was very much a whistle-stop to give you a rough idea.
11:17And thank you very much for joining us here on Somerset Live.
11:20If you missed any part of this broadcast, it will be available indefinitely on our Facebook page.
11:24And if you have any further questions, put them in the comments
11:27and we will put them to the council in due course.
11:29But in the meantime, this is Daniel Nunby reporting from Minehead's newest council houses.
11:33And enjoy the rest of your day.