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Sunday 20 March 2016

Locally-led garden towns and villages

Central government has just published details of its updated proposals for 'locally-led garden towns and villages':
Locally-led garden villages, towns and cities - Publications - GOV.UK

This is largely a revamp of proposals from Lord Wolfson of two years ago:
Futures Forum: Garden cities and greenfield sites
Futures Forum: "England’s local authorities approved 195,000 planning applications over the past year, which is a 9 per cent rise on the average before legal changes came in promoting sustainable development."
Garden cities can be the wonders of our age - Telegraph
Wolfson Economics Prize 2014
Garden cities, mark 2: Wolfson Prize winner’s suburban solution - FT.com

And last year, Lord Taylor pushed for similar ideas - all in the name of 'localism':
Futures Forum: Garden Villages ... "Empowering localism to solve the housing crisis"
Garden Villages: Empowering localism to solve the housing crisis

These are the latest proposals from the budget:


More backing for garden cities, towns and villages

The Budget says that the government will legislate to "make it easier for local authorities to work together to create new garden towns". 

The document adds that, for areas that want to establish "smaller settlements", the government "will provide technical and financial support to areas that want to establish garden villages and market towns of between 1,500 and 10,000 homes". 

prospectus document published alongside the Budget says that, in exchange for guaranteed housing delivery, the government will work with councils to "identify and deliver planning freedoms to support housing growth including, for example, ensuring that there is greater ability to resist speculative residential planning applications, and to continue protecting the green belt". 

It adds that the government is "committed to legislating to update the New Towns Act 1981 to ensure there is a fit for purpose vehicle" for the delivery of new garden towns and villages.

Budget 2016: 10 things you need to know | Planning Resource
Government to update New Towns Act 'to assist delivery of garden villages, towns and cities' | Planning Resource

Not everyone is enthusiastic...

This is the view from the East Devon Watch blog:



BUDGET: “GARDEN VILLAGES” WILL HAVE AT LEAST 1,500 HOMES, “GARDEN TOWNS” AT LEAST 10,000

16 MAR 2016

Good luck with those “gardens” folks!

“In his Budget, Mr Osborne says: “The government supports the construction of a new wave of garden towns and cities across the country, with the potential to deliver more than 100,000 homes.

“The Budget announces that the government will legislate to make it easier for local authorities to work together to create new garden towns, as well as consult on a second wave of Compulsory Purchase Order reforms with the objective of making the process clearer, fairer and quicker.

“For areas that want to establish smaller settlements, the government will provide technical and financial support to areas that want to establish garden villages and market towns of between 1,500 to 10,000 homes.”

Budget: Chancellor gives go-ahead for new 'Garden Villages' | Plymouth Herald

And just to be clear: “clearer, fairer and quicker” applies to developers, not us!


Budget: “garden villages” will have at least 1,500 homes, “garden towns” at least 10,000 | East Devon Watch

And from the Guardian earlier this year:


Britain’s first garden town: housing crisis solution or 'dog's breakfast'?

How the development of old market town Bicester turned ugly

19 January 2016 


































Britain’s first garden town: housing crisis solution or 'dog's breakfast'? | Cities | The Guardian

And from the Telegraph last year:


New towns and villages to be imposed on rural communities that fight development

New Whitehall consultation proposes a “housing delivery test” to rank how areas are delivering local homes
08 Dec 2015























The Government will impose “new settlements” on councils they consider to be failing to build enough new housing Photo: Alamy Stock Photo

New towns and villages to be imposed on rural communities that fight development - Telegraph
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