A PIONEERING development of new homes near Ludlow has scooped a national award for setting the standard in environmentally friendly building.

Rocks Green was named most sustainable larger housing project of the year in the Sustainable Housing Awards 2009, run by the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Judges picked Rocks Green, developed by South Shropshire Housing Association, as the winner over five other UK projects.

The results were revealed at an awards ceremony in London hosted by Channel 4 News presenter, Jon Snow.

Rocks Green is made up of 91 extremely energy efficient properties which receive their heating and hot water from an environmentally friendly biomass boiler, which burns wood chips from locally-sourced timber.

Rocks Green is also the first new build development in Shropshire to incorporate ‘Homezone’, a traffic management system widely used in Europe to provide a safe environment for pedestrians and slows cars down to a walking pace, using a variety of construction materials.

“Everyone involved in Rocks Green is thoroughly delighted to have won this prestigious award,” said SSHA managing director Paul Sutton.

“We set out to create the most sustainable development possible which would minimise its impact on the environment, support the local economy and be a credit to the area.

“All of the hard work of our own team and our partners in the project, particularly Vision Mill Architects, has been recognised and I congratulate each and every one of them.

“Rocks Green sets the standard for what is possible when building the homes and communities of the future and we hope it stands as an example to the wider house-building industry.”