The story of one of Broadoaks Park’s first residents

After nearly 30 years living in their rural family home in Heckfield, Hampshire, David and Jo Bell were looking to move to a new home in a more convenient spot, but that still captured the character and setting of their countryside home. They found the perfect match at Broadoaks Park, being one of the first residents to reserve and move in.

David Bell comments, “We moved in on the 21^st October 2020, a date clearly etched in my mind, and I think we were amongst the first arrivals here.”

“We moved from Heckfield in Hampshire, some 40 minutes away from West Byfleet, where we had lived happily for 29 years. We bought this as a new home back in 1992 when we still had children living at home, and loved its rather remote, rural location. But as time marched on, I had retired, our family had grown up and moved away and we decided it would be sensible to re-locate somewhere that was closer to amenities.

No prizes for guessing our top priorities – close to a Waitrose and railway station! Which led us quite easily to Broadoaks Park.”

David and Jo attended the Broadoaks Park launch event in September 2019 and swiftly decided on their favourite home.

David remarks, “We went along to the very first open day for the proposed development held at Mercedes Benz World in Weybridge. We immediately liked what we saw whilst studying the architectural model and a very helpful video fly through, so we could envisage what each of the roads and house types would eventually look like.  Three days later we met with Andy Cook at Octagon’s Head Office in East Molesey, where we selected our plot, a good decision, as reservations seemed to be flowing in thick and fast.”

David continues, “It was slightly a déjà vu moment for me, as many years ago, I visited the old Broadoaks mansion when it was a Ministry of Defence offshoot. I was there to assist with a software project in my role as a consultant IT specialist. Who would have guessed I would end up living here!”

David and Jo’s moving plans were unfortunately disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing them to re-think their initial moving plans.

David mentions, “It was a slightly bumpy ride from date of reservation until completion. We sold our Heckfield house quickly, way before the estimated date for our Broadoaks Park home to be finished, but as we have a holiday home in Spain, we were unperturbed, and thought we could while away the waiting months there basking in sunshine.

Then Covid struck, work briefly halted on our new home, we couldn’t travel and we were suddenly homeless.  Luckily our daughter, who lives in Broadstairs, took us in. We had to stay for seven months!”.

A year on at Broadoaks Park, David and Jo agree the hassle was worth it.

David comments, “As our first-year anniversary passes, we have no regrets about choosing Broadoaks Park, even the rather challenging journey to get here. This was meant to be a downsize, but our new home seems to have as much space as the old family home! The big open plan kitchen/living/dining really works for us, and our main bedroom has 5-star hotel proportions. We have also got used to lights going on automatically when either of us pop into our en-suite bathroom, a boon during night and dark winter morning visits.”

Broadoaks Park was David and Jo’s first exposure to Octagon, and they have since become keen advocates of the luxury developer.

David adds, “Octagon was a new name to us, having come from the depths of Hampshire, but I understand why they are so highly rated. We have had snags of course, like any new homeowner, but have been impressed by the manner and speed of the Octagon team’s response when sorting them out. We even had the CEO Tim Banks, himself, in for a chat one day, to help resolve a boundary fence issue, which he duly did, and without any fuss or bother.”

Concluding, David and Jo are delighted to be a part of the Broadoaks Park family.

“We have lovely neighbours, and the community here is growing by the month. As well as appreciating all the communal landscaping and planting going on around us, we have been discovering the delights of West Byfleet during our many months of lockdown walks. There are plenty of places beyond Broadoaks Park for a pleasant 3-mile stroll, and this is something we have continued to do today with the restrictions behind us.  And I have re-kindled my interest in photography.  Having started ‘snapping’ with a Kodak Brownie 127 as a young boy, I have now upgraded to a modern SLR camera, and I am still keen to catch local wildlife that tantalisingly appears from time to time around the footpaths of Broadoaks Park.”