The close proximity of other buildings creates an urban feel to the development, but the advantage of green space (our own large pond and veteran oaks!) makes birdsong and wildflowers omnipresent only a short walk away. The architecture is varied, reflective of the Cambridge vernacular, and very thoughtful of light and seasons. We were attracted to Eddington especially because of the promise to be sustainable and eco friendly; that challenge is ongoing, especially with the solar panels and water systems. The ground landscaping? Different visions are a source of discussion among neighbours and have resulted in an odd mix of contrasting landscaping, in my opinion. Formal clipped hedges and roses? Seasonal wildflowers and grasses? Maintaining a healthy landscaped environment is an ongoing challenge. I believe it will continue to improve and I enjoy learning about what grows well here. The management makes an effort to inform and engage us.

The development is quiet, safe, and home to numerous plants, trees, birds and butterflies. We have been told that the management avoids pesticides and herbicides with a healthy environment in mind. There are several walks to choose from, and a lake called Brook Leys that offers lovely walks and world-class architectural sculptures. On our street, we have found that the wonderful underground bin system eliminates smells and pests. Sometimes a thoughtless neighbour will fail to push bags down the chute, which blocks the bin, but I can’t think of any other ongoing complaint. We also have an amazing bakery, Dulcedo, in the square here. It’s the perfect place to meet friends spontaneously or for a get-together over delicious coffee. For moving in, I would recommend that those who show new residents around their homes be familiar with common questions about how the houses work, for example, how best to use the wonderful air exchanger system. The “summer bypass” switch wasn’t known to us until today, when a neighbour explained what he’d discovered! We’ve been living here for a year and a half and are still learning about the house and how it works.The building quality and the architecture is excellent. We find many thoughtful touches throughout in keeping with architect Alison Brook’s motto, “generosity”.

Overall Meridian Fields is an excellent development although recent works being carried out due to an error in the early stages of the development are concerning down the line. The placement of some of the drains on Harris Close is odd to say the least as the water runs away from them and congregates at the bottom of the road rather than going down the drain itself. Hill have been very helpful in getting snagging issues sorted even if it has taken some time and there are still a few small problems seven months after moving in. But, overall, we are very pleased and glad we purchased a property in Meridian Fields. Quality of garden and grass when moving in however was poor and has taken a lot of work to get up to our required standards.

The houses are a good design with lovely upgraded aspects in kitchens, bathrooms and flooring. We were very disappointed with our service during the buying process and this would hugely put us off buying with them again. We are happy with the house now we are in it but it does feel like as soon as you move in then that’s it, no one checks in etc. 28 days to find all snags is fine but some things you just don’t notice in that time and are then stuck. More parking would be helpful for the houses with a garage so they don’t park on the road or in visitor spaces.
We set out a huge amount of problems and issues in our hand over meeting where we were asked to fill out a form about the buying process but we heard nothing back from this. Seems very little point in filling this out if we never hear anything back. It appears that as soon as money is handed over then no one cares.