Draft:Dorchester Regeneration

Dorchester Regeneration is a UK regeneration business that regenerates large-scale brownfield sites for mixed-use..

History
It was founded by Paul Silver in 2003.

From 2006, the business started buying and developing its own schemes, shifting to focus on residential-led regeneration projects capable of providing more than 1,000 homes.

Sir Timothy Laurence joined the advisory committee of Dorchester Regeneration as non-executive chairman and served from November 2011 to October 2019.

Heyford Park
The financial crisis in 2009 presented Silver with the opportunity to buy Heyford Park, a former RAF and US Airforce base near Bicester, from national housebuilders Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey.

The regeneration project has secured planning for 2,700 new homes, of which the first 1,000 have already been built, alongside new commercial spaces, a supermarket, hotel and restaurant. A new masterplan is being consulted upon for an additional 6,000 residential homes and associated facilities.

The development has won several industry awards.

Heyford Park Free School
Silver became the first developer in the UK to be authorised by the Government to build and run a free school, which opened in 2013. He was chair of the board of governors at the school until 2021. The school is located in two refurbished buildings which originally formed the airbase’s Officer’s Mess during the tenure of the United States Air Force.

Prince Philip Park
Silver entered into joint Venture with Taylor Wimpey to create Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company. Working in collaboration with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, an operating arm of the Ministry of Defence, the joint venture is redeveloping the former Prince Philip Barracks in Whitehill and Bordon, Hampshire.

The development includes a large suitable alternative natural green space (SANG), equivalent in size to 20 football pitches.

The development has won a number of industry awards

Bayswater Brook
In 2016 Silver was chosen by Christ Church College Oxford as their development partner for a new development on land north of Bayswater Brook, Oxford. In May 2023 a planning application was submitted for 1,450 new homes,  a new primary school, a new mixed-use local centre and a new and upgraded bridge crossing over the Bayswater Brook.