Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community Development Plan Document: Examination Overview
The Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community addresses the long term need for new housing in our area, in a strategic way. The Garden Community was included in the shared Section 1 Local Plans for Tendring District Council and Colchester City Council adopted by the Councils in 2021. The shared Section 1 required a further Plan (Development Plan Document) to be prepared by the Councils to set out additional planning policies for the site, include identifying where certain land uses are being proposed.
The Councils have now adopted the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community Development Plan Document (DPD). This has been informed by a wide range of evidence base documents and been subject to two formal periods of consultation and independent examination by a Government appointed Planning Inspector.
Latest news related to the Examination process and timetable will be published on the 'Latest news' page. All the relevant documents can be found on the ‘Examination Library’ page.
Adoption Statement
PLANNING AND COMPULSORY PURCHASE ACT 2004
TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING REGULATIONS (LOCAL PLANNING)
(ENGLAND) (2012) REGULATIONS 26 & 35 (as amended)
TENDRING COLCHESTER BORDERS GARDEN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN DOCUMENT (DPD)
17th June 2025
In accordance with Regulations 26 & 25 of the Town and Country Planning Regulations 2012 (as amended) and Regulation 23 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended), notice is hereby given that Tendring District Council (TDC), by decision at the meeting of Full Council on Tuesday 20th May 2025, and Colchester City Council (CCC), by decision at the meeting of Full Council on Monday 9th June 2025, have formally adopted the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community Development Plan Document (hereafter the ‘DPD’).
The ‘DPD’ was prepared jointly by TDC and CCC (hereafter the ‘Councils’) to form part of each of the authorities’ respective Local Plans. The DPD:
- Contains policies setting out how the Garden Community will be designed, developed and delivered in phases in accordance with Policies SP8 and SP9 of the ‘North Essex Authorities’ Shared Strategic Section 1 Plan’, and sets the vision for what the Garden Community will be like in the future.
- Confirms the boundary of the Garden Community and establishes how the development will be broadly laid out, involving the delivery of circa 7,500 homes (with a minimum 30% affordable housing) along with a range of shops, jobs, services and community facilities.
- Sets the expectations in relation to nature and green-blue infrastructure, including the allocation of a new country park, strategic green gaps and the creation of a community with a natural support system for both people and wildlife.
- Allocates approximately 25ha of employment land, sets out the details of its use and the promotion of economic growth. It ensures that the Garden Community will provide and promote opportunities for employment and will facilitate a thriving local economy.
- Sets the expectations for the Garden Community to be walkable, low traffic and livable. It requires that the development must be designed with active travel and high frequency public transport at its core.
- Requires that the Garden Community be an exemplar and innovative development that addresses the climate emergency, enabling communities to lead resilient and low carbon lifestyles, whilst being unique and distinctive in its character and appearance.
- Ensures that proposals must demonstrate that the required infrastructure to support the development will be delivered in a timely and, where appropriate, phased manner.
Following examination by an independent Planning Inspector, a Final Report on the Examination of the DPD under section 20 (5) of the Act, was received by the ‘Councils’ on 1st April 2025. The above-mentioned report confirmed that, subject to the Inspector’s ‘main modifications’ (pursuant to section 20(7C) of the Act) (which have been agreed by the Councils and incorporated into the adopted document), the DPD meets legal requirements of the national planning system and the ‘tests of soundness’ contained within national planning policy – as necessary for it to proceed to formal adoption.
The formal adoption of the DPD by the ‘Councils’ has the effect of replacing all policies set out in both the TDC and CCC Section 2 Local Plans for the purposes of all land within the Site Allocation Boundary of the Garden Community.
Any person aggrieved by the ‘Councils’ decision to adopt the DPD may make an application, under Section 113 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 to the High Court, on the grounds that the document is not within the appropriate powers and/or a procedural requirement has not been complied with.
Any such application should be made promptly and, in any event, no later than the end of the six-week challenge period, 12 noon on Wed 30th July 2025.
The DPD and its appendices, the Policies Map, the adoption statement, the Sustainability Appraisal (and addendum), and the Planning Inspector’s report can be found below:
Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community Development Plan Document (DPD)
Sustainability Appraisal - Modifications Update
Inspector’s Final Main Modifications
Paper copies of these documents can also be viewed at the following locations:
Town Hall - Monday to Friday 9am – 3pm
Station Road
Clacton-on-Sea
Essex, CO15 1SE
Colchester Town Hall - Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm
High Street
Colchester
Essex, CO1 1PJ
For further information please contact the TCBGC Project Team at tcbgardencommunity@colchester.gov.uk or by writing to:
TCBGC Project Team
Town Hall
Station Road
Clacton-on-Sea
Essex, C015 1SE
The Councils Privacy Notices are available on their respective websites.
The Hearings
The hearing sessions (which are part of the overall Examination) took place between Tuesday 7 May and Friday 10 May 2024. For further information, including to view the Hearings Programme and Hearing Statements please view our Hearings Information.
Modifications
In accordance with Section 20 (7C) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, following the hearing sessions in May 2024, the Inspector recommended modifications he considered necessary to make the DPD sound. A six-week consultation on the modifications took place in September-October 2024. The 'Schedule of Inspector's Modifications' can be found in the Examination Library.
Further information
View the following pages to find out more:
