NEW HOMES AWARDS 2003

WESTCOUNTRY Publications` annual New Homes Awards, run in association with Dartington Crystal and sponsored by Devon Pine, was held at the Elfordleigh Hotel near Plympton recently. It was a night as glitzy and glamorous as the Oscars and the air was heavy with impatient anticipation as the creme de la creme of developers in the South West waited to hear who had won.

The New Homes Awards scheme attracts entrants ranging from large national builders to small family firms, and it was one of the smaller ones that scooped not only the prize in the Luxurious Homes category, but also the overall prize in the most Outstanding Development category. Both went to Orchard Park, an exclusive riverside development of three fabulously luxurious large properties being built in Ivybridge by Hayman Homes.

The five judges were Kevin O`Brien, principal of Totnes-based O`Brien Chartered Surveyors; Alan Stone, a chartered town planner employed in the Environment Directorate of Devon County Council and Chris Davey, a regional director of Miller Countrywide estate agents. They were joined by Meg Baxter, property writer with Westcountry Publications for 23 years, and Pete Grigorey, principal officer for sustainability at the Environment Agency in Exeter.

Plymouth Evening Herald editor Alan Qualtrough and Westcountry Publications advertisement director Sarah Irvine hosted the awards. Dartington Crystal trophies and certificates were presented by Meg Baxter and property manager Roger Rees.

Author:Meg Baxter - Western Evening Herald