Five years ago it was a redundant airfield.
Now it is a thriving new community, full of life with its population growing all the time.
Haywood Village sits on the site of the former Weston Airfield, once a major employer in the seaside town.
Work on building the first houses on the new development began in 2013, with the first new residents moving in a year later.
The first phase of the 900 homes was completed last year, with work on the second phase of 1650 further homes now underway.
The development, with its mix of pastel coloured semis, town houses, apartments and family properties, is part of the Weston Villages development which includes the nearby Parklands Village and which overall will provide more than 6,500 homes and 10,000 jobs to the town.
When the first residents moved in five-and-a-half years ago there was little to see with many of the first phase of the development still yet to be built.
But it is a place that many have come to love and call home – including Fiona Jamieson who was among the first residents to move in.
Mum-of-one Fiona, 30, said: “My partner and I were some of the first people to move into our street and I was pregnant at the time.
“It’s been interesting to watch the development go up in front of us and it is amazing to see how quickly it has happened.
“Everyone has just come together easily to form this new community.
“Our neighbours are lovely and we look out for one another.
“As the development is still under construction we do, admittedly, have issues with that including mud on the road which is dangerous as my partner rides a motorbike.
“I’ve also had to replace a few car tyres due to screws and nails going in them.”
The development – by Persimmon Homes - is home to a mix of young families, retirees, first time buyers and private renters – many of whom live in Weston but commute to work in Bristol.
The development involved the construction of some significant upfront infrastructure, including a major new access road The Runway – called so in a nod to the site’s aviation past.
There is also a 'superpond' – a flood mitigation measure which also provides informal green open space.
The first phase of development included the construction and opening of Haywood Village Primary School, which is run by the Cabot Learning Federation and was judged by OfSTED to be outstanding in every category in its first inspection,
The school also includes a meeting room, sports hall and football pitches which are shared for use by the community.
The facilities are managed by the Haywood Airfield Leisure Enterprise (HALE) Community Interest Company.
The community facilities are already well used by local groups including for mum and baby classes, a martial arts and exercise class.
The development has just welcomed its first Womens’ Institute.
It also has a thriving running club – The Weston Whippets – which meet for a social run every Thursday night.
A second primary school and further sports facilities are expected to be built in the next few years as part of the second phase of development.
The site also includes some retail units in the local centre area, with a supermarket already in place, with plans for further shops in the future.
Community pastor Fiona Mayne, now lives on the estate and has helped drive forward a number of initiatives.
The first Christmas that residents moved in, Fiona and others based at Locking Castle Church organised a carols around the Christmas tree event on the development’s main Runway Park – an event which still happens five years later.
Further events followed including Easter fun days and the launch of the pop up café. Take Five, in the school after classes each Tuesday, which still runs today.
Easter Sunday in April 2017 saw the launch of a ‘pop up’ church which operates once a month.
Due to the ever growing congregation, there are now plans for the development to have its very own church – complete with community café run by volunteers - by next year.
Fiona said: “It’s a really great place to live and people seem to get on well and want to meet new people.
“Because everyone is new to the area in some ways it makes it easier to form a new community.”
David Robson was also amongst the first people to move in to Haywood Village.
The dad-of-four moved from his home in Yeovil to Weston-super-Mare with wife Bev and four children due to working in Bristol.
“Living in Yeovil and commuting to Bristol was really tough,” said David.
“We decided on Haywood Village as the commute is so much easier.”
Since arriving in 2014, Dave, 55, has thrown himself into becoming part of the new community.
He is chair of the residents association and a member of the Haywood Airfield Leisure Enterprise (HALE), the not for profit company which runs the community facilities on the development.
The group holds a number of events on the development such as a family Christmas party, quiz nights, fairs and a family fun day in the summer – which this year attracted more than 400 people.
All money raised at the events goes back into supporting the running the facilities for the local community.
“Haywood Village is one of the best places I have ever lived, “ he said.
“The community which is building here is better than anywhere I have been before.”
Like every new development there are a few bug bears for residents.
The fact that there is no enforceable speed limit on the development, due to the fact the roads have yet to be adopted by North Somerset Council are among the moans.
Mud and nails and screws left on the road during the construction is also something of a pain, along with the fact that currently there is only a limited bus service serving the development.
Another concern is the lack of a doctors’ surgery at a time when healthcare facilities in the seaside town are already oversubscribed.
“There are issues, “ said Dave. “But we raise these through our regular meetings and try and work together to solve them.
“Working together is all part of building a community such as this.
“We started off as a small group of people doing things, but more and more people are joining all the time and bringing forward new things.”
As well as the residential side of the development Haywood Village also has its own pub the Landing Light.
There is also the Junction 21 Enterprise area which houses The Hive, a hub for small businesses.
The Enterprise Area is also home to the new multi million pound regional food and drink innovation centre, Food WorksSW.
The new £11 million centre is home to 12 food grade business units and will act as a focal point for food and drink manufacturers across the south west, helping new businesses to get started and established producers to innovate and grow.
It will create around 250 new jobs and will play a vital role in the council's bid to drive forward growth in the North Somerset economy.
Sarah Codling is the North Somerset councillor for the Haywood Village development and has watched the area grow.
“It’s still very much a growing community,” she said.
“I am on site at least once a week and every time I am there it seems as if more houses have been completed.
“One of the issues for people is that essentially they are still living in a construction site and the fact that there are not all the facilities in place yet, such as shops.
“When the first people moved in some felt isolated as at that time there was no bus service at all.
“People are also concerned about speeding on the development as the new road can often be used as a cut through to and from Winterstoke Road
“A great thing about Haywood Village is the real community spirit it already has.
“This continues to evolve with new people moving in all the time.”
Locals on the development also seem to love where they live.
Abbie Taylor, a 31-year-old mum-of-three, moved to Haywood Village last December.
“This is a great place to live,” she said.
“There is a Facebook page to keep us up to date with what is going on and there is a really good community spirit.
“The children love it here as it’s such a friendly place. I am looking forward to meeting more new people as the development grows in size.
“It will also be good to have some additional shops moving in and we could do with a fish and chip shop or a takeaway as currently we have to drive to get one.”
Nicola Powell, 60, moved to Haywood Village two weeks ago from Worle.
“My husband wanted to move here because he liked the ensuite bathroom, “ she joked.
“But we like it here.
“One of my main bugbears is that there is no postbox. You would think a development this size would have one.
“The people here are very friendly and there is a real sense of community.”
Ben James moved to Haywood Village three years ago with his wife.
“We both work in Bristol and just couldn’t afford to buy in the city,” he said.
“When we saw this development we liked it and it’s an easy commute up the M5 for both of us.
“We get the best of both worlds living here. We have the buzz of Bristol yet the pleasures of living beside the seaside.”
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