WORK is set to start on a pioneering housing project.

The Cannock Mill Co-Housing group is to create a community where people live independently in their own homes but share facilities.

The group bought the Grade II listed Cannock Mill and two acres of surrounding land in Old Heath, Colchester, for £1.2 million and has been granted planning permission for 23 homes - 17 houses and six flats.

It is now looking for a company to undertake the development.

Once completed, the project will be an eco-friendly community with all the homes designed and built to the Passivhaus standard meaning they will need almost no energy to heat them.

They will be highly-insulated, with a ventilation system which directs warm air back into the homes.

The site will include its own allotments with the community’s carbon footprint reduced by sharing resources such as cars and possibly bikes.

The 19th-century weather boarded Cannock Mill will become a social space, with guest rooms, a workshop, communal lounge, kitchen and dining areas.

The principle of the project is the participants grow old independently but with support and without suffering from isolation.

The group includes a retired doctor, diplomat, civil servant and several architects.

Lesley Scordellis, 64, who is an academic proof reader, is moving from Guildford to Colchester to be part of the project.

She said: “I have lived in Guildford for 30 years so it will be quite an upheaval.

“It will be a wrench to leave my friends but it is so exciting to be part of something new.”

She added: “I think co-housing is such a good idea. There are no solutions in this country as to what to do with our ageing population. With co-housing, we all live independently but have mutual support.

“In 20 years time, when we need help, that will be fantastic. We are pioneers in this.”

Ms Scordellis said she was looking forward to moving to Colchester from Surrey.

She said: “I absolutely love the town. I can’t believe they have been able to find such a beautiful site which is also so close to town.

“We expect to appoint a contractor in September who will start work as soon as possible. We will all move in at the same time, which, I hope is early 2018.”

So far, all but two houses and three flats in the development have been sold.

For more information on the project, go to cannockmillcohousingcolchester.co.uk.