It was an absolute pleasure to sponsor the annual Lord Taverners lunch at Sandy Park in Exeter yesterday. As newbies to the event, it was fantastic to see such a great turnout in support of this wonderful charity. Jake Sprague, Iain Welsh and Oliver Myerson hosted a table of guests, we hope you all enjoyed it too! Looking forward to next year...
Congratulations to the team
A great day out celebrating Runnymede Homes completing on Phase 1 of a superb scheme in Cobham, Surrey. Following a competitive marketing process led by the landowners agents James Youatt and Will Mackenzie, Runnymede were selected as the preferred bidder. A big thanks to their Land Director Michael Weeks for ably progressing this to conclusion but also our landowners, their advisors Farrer & Co consultant team and professional advisors Trowers & Hamlins. A fantastic result for Obsidian and our consultants teams who worked hard on this project.
Golf at The Belfry
Thanks to SLR Consulting and their team for hosting a hugely enjoyable charity golf day playing The Brabazon at The Belfry Hotel & Resort.
A fantastic setting and an unbelievable effort from SLR raising £16,000 in support of Bigmoose charity.
We were pleased to be joined by Breakwell, Matthew Handford, George Davies, and David Hutchinson.
Thank you Carbon Neutral Britain
A small token, but one we are proud of, which showcases our continuing commitment to sustainability and environmental action. Thank you Carbon Neutral Britain.
New Hire and expansion
HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!
Obsidian are delighted to announce the launch of our new south west region with the hiring of Jake Sprague, who joins as a senior land manager. Jake will be based out of Exeter and cover Devon, Somerset & Dorset, building on our central team's excellent work over the last 12 months of growing our presence in the region. Any agents, consultants or other property professionals in the south west that would be interested in working with us, please do reach out.
Welcome aboard Jake!
Wokingham Promotion Agreement
We are pleased to announce that we have recently entered into a promotion agreement in Wokingham, Berkshire.
The greenfield site extends to over 80 acres and will be promoted through the emerging Local Plan for a residential led extension providing market and affordable homes, community facilities, public open space and SANG.
Thanks to our landowners and agents, Ed Keeling and Megan Holman from Savills, their solicitors FSP, Marcus Francis acting and our advisors, Liam Floodgate at Wedlake Bell.
A great effort from Elliss Morgan in the land team, her first one over the line since joining the business and undoubtedly the first of many!
Buckinghamshire Exchange
We pleased to announce that Obsidian Strategic have recently entered into a promotion agreement within Buckinghamshire. The greenfield site extends to 15 acres and we will be promoting the site through the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan for a residential led extension providing market and affordable homes.
A huge thanks to everyone involved, including our landowners and our advisors, Nicholas Burt at Trowers and Hamlins.
We are still actively looking for both new land opportunities nationwide.
West Oxfordshire Submission
We are happy to announce that Obsidian has submitted a scheme of 40 units at Ascott under Wychwood (West Oxfordshire) to include 50% affordable housing. The site is part PDL part greenfield in the AONB so yes it’s going to be a challenge! The district has a serious shortfall of affordable units and an acute and growing affordability crisis with 48 households in Ascott needing affordable housing, so it will be interesting to see the weight attached to this issue. Many thanks to the project team including; Alan Divall and Annie Gingell of Tetlow King Planning, John Birch at Glanville and Gary Riderof Thrive Architects. Thanks also to Green & Co in their role as land agent.
Newton LDP Shoot
Thank you to Newton LDP and their team for a hugely enjoyable charity clay shoot at Shuckburgh Hall last week. A fantastic setting, sporting clays and a very worthy cause in the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI).
Cherwell Proposal Submitted
We have submitted proposals in partnership with Brasenose College (Oxford) for 60 dwellings and a community building on land north of Cropredy, Cherwell to include full affordable housing. Many thanks to Grant Westall-Reece and the agency team at Bidwells, Steven Sensecall and Johnny Clayton and the wider planning & masterplanning team at Carter Jonas, and Glanville Consultants and the housing team at Tetlow King Planning for your advice and assistance.
Carbon Neutral Certified
We are proud to announce that, for the second year in a row, we have partnered with Carbon Neutral Britain™ to measure and offset our carbon footprint, to become Certified as a Carbon Neutral Business.
Saxilby Exchange
Obsidian Strategic is pleased to announce it has entered into a promotion agreement at Saxilby in North-West Lincolnshire, further pushing the boundaries of our operating area as we drive towards becoming a genuinely national promoter.
The greenfield site extends 145 acres (58.72 hectares) and lies within the administrative area of West Lindsay District Council. We will be promoting the site through the new Central Lincolnshire Local Plan for a residential led extension providing market and affordable homes, community facilities and public open space.
Thanks to our landowners and agents, Gary Owens from Mather Jamie, their solicitors Roythornes, Alex Armstrong acting and our advisors, David Cole at Womble Bond Dickinson.
The Obsidian land and planning team working on the site are: Oliver Myerson, Phil Scott, Iain Welsh, Luke Garrett, Anna Dick, Ellis Morgan and Anthony Madden.
Actively seeking land
We are actively looking for new strategic land opportunities with development potential.
Please contact the team for any opportunities.
Introductory fees will be recognised.
A Massive Thank You
A massive thank you to all who contributed towards our Christmas Appeal with Oasis UK (https://www.oasisuk.org/). All donations were greatly appreciated. Here are some of the wonderful donations, we at Obsidian and Oasis are very grateful!
Women in Planning
We enjoyed attending the Women in Planning Christmas drinks last week and having the opportunity to meet so many women in the industry from different disciplines.
Steele Bodgers Rugby Day Out
A number of the team were at Steele Bodger in Cambridge yesterday enjoying wonderful hospitality from different hosts. As always it was a great day catching up with old friends & colleagues from across the industry, as well as meeting many new ones.
Steptober 2022
Over the last two weeks we took part in LandAid’s Steptober 2022 challenge. Steptober is a walking event, where you compete against other property professionals to take as many steps as possible.
Massive congratulations for to the team for raising over £1,000 help contribute to the overall figure of £61,000 and thank to all of those who generously donated tot he cause.
Diversity Within Property Seminar
A few Obsidian employees attended an engaging seminar this morning on diversity within the property industry hosted by Sue Brown of Real Estate Balance and Walter Cooper.
It was very interesting listening to speakers Tim Burke, Geeta Nanda OBE, Ingrid Osborne and Andy Hill on their take on diversity and the steps they are taking to create a more inclusive environment.
We look forward to attending the next event.
We are recruiting!
Please email contact@obsidianstrategic.com if you are interested.
RESI360
Members of our in-house planning team attended ‘RESI 360’ conference held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London in September to hear the latest examples and experience of the residential and house-building industry following the covid pandemic. The seminar was attended by town planners, housebuilders, architects, land agents, finance institutions, and technical specialists from across the UK. The annual conference provides both professional development for our own planning team but enables Obsidian to forward plan its approaches and strategies towards land promotion and application-preparation in line with industry-experience.
