The Garden Community provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a place to live, work and play in a better way. It is an opportunity to create a brand-new community in a comprehensively planned way from the start, and the opportunity to embrace and deliver the very best in placemaking for the future. Its development is underpinned by a positive vision for the future which has been developed through engagement with residents, stakeholders, businesses, partners, and other interested parties.
The Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community will meet the Garden City Principles, set out by Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA). These include:
A PLACE SHAPED BY NATURE AND LANDSCAPE
The Garden Community will incorporate important existing landscape features and provide a high degree of connectivity to existing green corridors and networks. Alongside a new Country Park provided along the Salary Brook Corridor it will also deliver a variety of new spaces – parks, fields, wild spaces, communal spaces, private places, secret spaces.
A PLACE WITH THRIVING ECOLOGY AND BIODIVERSITY
Net Gains in biodiversity and a thriving ecological network will shape the Garden Community ensuring native species thrive. Key assets within the Garden Community site including Salary Brook Local Nature Reserve, Welsh Wood Local Nature Reserve, ancient woodland, species rich hedgerows, areas of species rich grassland and valuable wetlands will be protected and/or enhanced and linked into the wider natural ecosystem network through habitat creation and management.
A PLACE WITH A PRODUCTIVE AND CLIMATE RESILIENT NATURAL LANDSCAPE
The landscape of the Garden Community will be informed by inclusive community design and provide a range of productive uses such as orchards, allotments, and growing fields. Natural flood risk management and carbon capture will be seamlessly incorporated in the ecological network, making the natural landscape “work hard” and deliver multiple benefits simultaneously.
A PLACE WITH DISTINCTIVE IDENTITY
Inherently authentic, memorable and delightful, the Garden Community will have a locally-rooted character drawn from its surroundings, but also a strong identity of its own. The community will be varied in its built form, densities and architectural style. Its impact on the human and physical environment will be considered. Strong and purposeful buffers will provide separation where they are needed while in other areas strong connections and planned links will ensure it is never isolated.
A PLACE THAT IS VIBRANT AND ACTIVE
The Garden Community will be designed to ensure interaction and activity is common. Centres will encourage a variety of mixed use, flexible spaces that are accessible in close proximity to homes and jobs. It will be known for its quality of livability, equitable prosperity, and social cohesion.
A PLACE WHERE HOUSING IS ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE AND INCLUSIVE
New housing will provide opportunity for young renters, flat sharers, first time buyers, growing families, empty nesters and ageing members of society to live side by side – there will be a real sense of belonging and community with homes designed to be more flexible and adaptable to whole life needs.
A PLACE WITH GREAT HOMES
The Garden Community will create high quality and desirable homes designed to meet the changing needs of society whilst ensuring high quality spaces.
A PLACE WITH A THRIVING LOCAL ECONOMY
The local economy will be vibrant and will provide a wide range of new and exciting economic opportunities, maximising opportunities from the adjacent University of Essex and capitalising on the success of the Knowledge Gateway. The site will provide a range of flexible and modern workspaces together with state-of-the-art digital infrastructure to allow for modern ways of working.
A PLACE THAT IS VIBRANT AND ACTIVE
The Garden Community will be designed to ensure interaction and activity is common. The neighbourhood centres will encourage a variety of mixed use, flexible spaces that are accessible in close proximity to homes and jobs. It will be known for its quality of livability, equitable prosperity, and social cohesion.
A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE CAN FEEL AT HOME
The Garden Community will be home to a multi-generation and multi-cultural community for people of different ages, ethnicities, interests and lifestyles. A variety of spaces for social interaction will encourage existing and new communities to meet with facilities designed to be accessible and inclusive.
A PLACE WHERE IT’S EASY TO BE HEALTHY AND HAPPY
The Garden Community will be designed to make it easy for residents and visitors to live well. It will be about far more than the delivery of healthcare services but focused on creating environments that promote healthy living, are regenerative, restorative and relaxing – being active and tranquil will come naturally.
A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE CAN LEARN
The Garden Community will be planned with lifelong learning in mind. While early years, primary and secondary education will all be planned for it will also develop a more holistic place that creates opportunity for lifelong learning, training and local opportunities with employers and key institutions such as the University of Essex.
A PLACE TO PLAY AND HAVE FUN
In addition to purpose-built sport and leisure facilities the Garden Community will include opportunities for recreation and activity including for children and young people.
A PLACE WHERE LONG TERM STEWARDSHIP IS CONSIDERED FROM THE OUTSET
Long term stewardship and governance will be considered and built-in from the initial stages of planning and designing the Garden Community. A clear understanding will be established from early on, of how the assets generated by the development process will be managed on behalf of the community in perpetuity and how income streams will be generated. Meaningful community participation will be established from the outset to enable people to engage in the management of their infrastructure. Community needs and opportunities will be identified in a participative manner and there will be local representation on delivery teams and partnerships.
A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE HAVE PRIORITY
The starting point for the design of the Garden Community will be a network of people-focused streets and traffic-free routes that ensure it is quicker to walk, cycle and scoot than use the car. The streets will be for play and enjoyment first, with traffic and deliveries carefully managed such that the streets are seen as a key setting for community life. While the Garden Community will not design out the car it will purposefully be planned for a different future where reduced private ownership and shared modes are efficient, safe and cheaper. While access will be possible to every house by car, the design of the streets will mean that cars will move slowly and be understood as guests in the streetscape. The streets will be designed such that parking spaces, car parks and car courts can be repurposed as community spaces as car ownership falls in the future.
A PLACE WITH RAPID, EFFICIENT AND COST EFFECTIVE PUBLIC TRANSPORT
A new Rapid Transit network will link the Garden Community to the wider area on high quality vehicles, operating at high frequencies and offering faster journey times to key destinations than by other means such as the private car. This will make Rapid Transit the first choice for trips into Colchester and beyond. The RTS will be a huge benefit for existing communities and for those travelling in to use the Park and Choose site, making the area even more attractive as a place to live, work, play and visit.
A PLACE WHERE ACTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL IS THE NATURAL CHOICE
Journeys will be different. The streets will be designed for people not cars, while dedicated traffic-free links will make walking, cycling and shared transport the natural choice for most trips – whether this may be going to work, dropping the kids off at school on the way or meeting friends at the weekend. It will be more direct, quicker and cheaper to travel by active an sustainable modes and therefore there will be less need to own a car.
A CONNECTED PLACE
The Garden Community will have excellent strategic connections to Colchester, Tendring and beyond. Locally the Garden Community will be
seamlessly connected with local destinations such as the University and residents will find it easy to connect to neighbours, both on- and off-site.
A PLACE WHERE THE ENERGY SUPPLY IS SUSTAINABLE, SMART AND FUTUREPROOFED
The Garden Community will look at options which maximise energy efficiency, minimise energy use and promote renewable energy technologies. Smart technology and integrated data service will be used to accommodate people’s needs and make their lives better. The Garden Community will ensure homes and infrastructure are futureproofed, affordable and adaptable to everybody’s individual and collective needs now and in the future.
A PLACE DESIGNED FOR THE IMPACTS WHILE MINIMISING ITS CONTRIBUTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
The impacts of climate change will be actively tackled through developing initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and that actively take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
A PLACE THAT OPTIMISES RESOURCE EFFICIENCY AND RECYCLING ACROSS THE WHOLE DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLE
The Garden Community will use as few resources as possible in the first place, keep resources in circulation for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them while in use, then recover and regenerate products at the end of service life.
A PLACE WHERE INFRASTRUCTURE COMES FIRST AND MEETS ITS INHABITANTS’ NEEDS
Key to creating a vibrant and attractive Garden Community is the phased delivery of infrastructure and services on site which fully meets the futur needs of residents and supports healthy and sustainable lifestyles. The range and nature of facilities considered should ensure that the majority of everyday needs can be met within the site.