The Draft Plan for the Garden Community

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From 14 March - 25 April 2022 the Councils ran a consultation on the Draft Plan for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community.

The information on this page provides an overview and links to the material that was published and consulted on at that time.

The Councils have now progressed to an updated version of the Plan - the 'Submission Version' which will be the subject of additional consultation and an 'Examination in Public'. For information on this please visit the Submission Version section.




Introduction


What is this document about?


This document is the first draft of a Plan setting out the detail of a new Garden Community proposed for land crossing the Tendring and Colchester border. It has been prepared by Tendring District Council and Colchester Borough Council, in partnership with Essex County Council (‘the Councils’). This first draft is the subject of a formal consultation, and we are inviting comments from all interested parties including (but not limited to) local residents, community organisations, statutory consultees and businesses. The Councils will consider all comments received, review the evidence base, and update this draft Plan accordingly and will carry out a further consultation on a proposed final version. This final version will then go forward for public consideration and scrutiny by an independent, government-appointed Planning Inspector via an ‘Examination in Public’ before making decisions on whether the Plan will be adopted.


What is the Garden Community and why is it needed?


To meet the needs of a growing population over the next 30 to 40 years for housing, employment and associated community facilities and infrastructure, the Councils are working together to plan for a new Garden Community. The Garden Community will be on a large area of land east of Colchester, bordering Tendring District and adjacent to the University of Essex.


The Garden Community will be large enough to accommodate new homes and supporting community facilities and services, alongside employment land for business and industrial use. It will be served by a network of green and beautiful spaces to promote wildlife, attractive places, healthy living, recreational activity, sustainable drainage and to tackle the climate emergency; and new services, facilities and infrastructure including a new Rapid Transit System (RTS) and a new dual carriageway Link Road between the A120 and the A133.


Building a new Garden Community brings the opportunity to create a brand-new place for people to live, work and play, which will be planned from the start to provide high quality, energy efficient and innovatively designed homes. These homes will be located in well-designed neighbourhoods to meet a variety of needs and aspirations, as well as jobs, transport infrastructure, green and blue infrastructure and leisure and recreation facilities.


By building a Garden Community, the pressure for existing towns and villages to expand around their edges across North Essex can be more carefully managed, to avoid housing developments that can overwhelm existing facilities and infrastructure and compromise the character and feel of existing communities.


What has already been agreed?


In 2021, Tendring District Council (TDC) and Colchester Borough Council (CBC) both agreed to formally adopt the ‘North Essex Authorities’ Shared Strategic Section 1 Local Plan’ (Section 1 Local Plan) which, amongst other things, identifies the broad location of the Garden Community and sets out the Strategic Policies and the overarching requirements and expectations that it will need to meet. The Garden Community will be underpinned by key ‘Garden Community Principles’ developed from the Town and Country Planning Association principles, in consultation with stakeholders, to be specific to North Essex.


The adoption of the Section 1 Local Plan followed years of technical analysis, public consultation, and an independent examination by a government-appointed Planning Inspector. The independent examination enabled the Planning Inspector to conclude that the Garden Community would be the most appropriate and sustainable option for meeting the need for long-term growth in the North Essex area – having considered and discounted a variety of alternative ideas and options.


To date, the content of this draft Plan has already been informed by technical evidence, masterplanning work and comments received through public engagement activities. However, like the Section 1 Local Plan, this more detailed Plan will also be the subject of a formal legal process of public consultation, decisions from locally elected Councillors, and an examination by an independent Planning Inspector once the final version is submitted. There is also now a legal requirement that this Plan will be reviewed every five years, to ensure it is kept up to date and responds, as necessary, to any changes in the economy or the environment, or actual changes on the ground, as well as complying with any new government policies.


Policy SP8 of the Section 1 Local Plan explains that this Plan must set out how the new Garden Community will be designed, developed, and delivered in phases, in accordance with a detailed set of principles. The Garden Community will be holistically and comprehensively planned with a distinct identity that responds directly to its context and is of sufficient scale to enable residents to meet the majority of their day-to-day needs, reducing the need for outward commuting. It will be comprehensively planned from the outset, with delivery phased to achieve the whole development, and will be underpinned by a broad package of infrastructure. Policy SP9 of the Section 1 Local Plan includes principles and requirements for the design, development, and delivery of the Garden Community under the themes of; Place-Making and Design Quality, Housing, Employment and Jobs, Transportation and Community Infrastructure. Relevant requirements from the Section 1 Local Plan are included in each of the themed chapters of this draft Plan.


In addition to the Section 1 Local Plan, TDC and CBC each have Section 2 Local Plans, which contain policies and allocations specific to each Council area. TDC adopted its Section 2 Local Plan in January 2022 and CBC is scheduled to adopt in Spring 2022. Requirements from relevant development management policies from TDC and CBCs Section 2 Plans have been included in this draft Plan. Therefore, proposals for the Garden Community will need to comply with all policies set out in this draft Plan, which replace all policies set out in Section 2 of either the CBC or TDC Local Plans. The Essex Minerals Local Plan and the Essex and Southend-on-Sea Waste Local Plan also apply to the Garden Community and plan policies will be applied where relevant.


Engagement


The Councils first step in the draft plan making process was the publication of a Consultation and Engagement Strategy in December 2020. The strategy outlined the approach the Councils would take to engage and communicate with various audiences, to help produce the content of the draft Plan. The strategy pointed out the different 'engagement’ and ‘consultation’ activities that the Councils would run. A dedicated website was established to provide a central source of information on the Garden Community and an engagement website was established, providing different tools to engage people. All of the engagement feedback has been carefully considered by the Councils and two reports have been published summarising feedback received. One report was prepared by the Councils and summarises the Council led informal engagement activity that took place between February – October 2021. The report looks at the feedback received, via the various engagement opportunities that were made available to the community and stakeholders. The other report has been produced by Traverse and Community Regen who were commissioned to design and facilitate an engagement programme over the summer and autumn of 2021, in close collaboration with masterplanners Prior + Partners, as part of their visioning work and for the preparation of the masterplan layout options. Each chapter of this draft Plan summarises the engagement feedback under each theme.


What does this draft Plan contain?


With the principle of a Garden Community already agreed, this draft Plan contains more detail about the development and the specific requirements that developers will be expected to follow, when applying for planning permission and carrying out the development. The draft Plan policies have been prepared to get the best possible design and placemaking. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a place for people to live, work and play in a better way.


The structure of this draft Plan follows some overarching ‘themes’ which emerged from the main requirements for the Garden Community set out in the Section 1 Local Plan, the National Model Design Code, the main topics of interest raised and discussed during public engagement activities and wider evidence gathering. The chapter themes are listed below.


Chapter 2: Vision


Chapter 2 sets out a vision for what it is hoped the Garden Community will be like in the future - informed by the discussions with residents, stakeholders and other interested parties through the various engagement activities undertaken. From the vision, a set of specific principles and objectives have been identified – to which all the policy requirements, and guidance in this draft Plan will help to achieve.


Chapter 3: Land Uses and Spatial Approach


Chapter 3 confirms the boundary of the Garden Community, includes a Key Diagram, and explains how planning applications for development of the Garden Community will be expected to come forward.


The big decisions about what land will be included in the Garden Community; how the development will broadly be laid out; which areas will be allocated to housing, employment, open space or other uses or infrastructure; and which areas will be protected from development, are set out in the Key Diagram. The Key Diagram has been informed by an evidence base supported by technical analysis, survey work and the comments of local people, stakeholders, and other interested parties as part of public engagement activities.


Chapter 4: Nature


Chapter 4 sets out the Councils’ expectations and its policy on nature within the Garden Community – including the protection and creation of open spaces and green and blue infrastructure; the planting of trees; tree-lined streets; the creation of wildlife habitats; the protection and enhancement of woodland, historic lanes and other important landscape, heritage, and biodiversity assets.


Chapter 5: Buildings, Place and Character


Chapter 5 contains the policy expectations for creating unique and distinctive places, buildings and neighbourhoods whilst respecting the character of nearby towns, villages, and heritage assets. It also sets out the details around the use of employment land; the promotion of economic growth and developing skills; as well as the creation of a variety of job opportunities across different sectors, including research and development, on-site construction and the service sector industries; and measures for embracing self-employment and home working.


Chapter 6: Community and Social Infrastructure


Chapter 6 contains the Councils’ expectations and policy on ensuring the Garden Community is served by community services and facilities of the right type in the right location, including schools and sports facilities; as well as access to health services and how the development will incorporate measures to encourage inclusive, healthy, and happy lifestyles.


Chapter 7: Movement and Connections


Chapter 7 sets out policy and expectations around the focus on active travel and the creation of ‘walkable neighbourhoods’ in the Garden Community where walking, cycling and rapid public transport facilities are prioritised, convenient and available to all as the preferred means of travel. It also sets out requirements for car parking for residents, workers, and visitors with the aim of embracing advancements in electric vehicle technology.


Chapter 8: Sustainable Infrastructure


Chapter 8 sets out the Councils’ aspirations and expectations for creating a Garden Community fit for the future and incorporates all measures aimed at tackling climate change, minimising carbon emissions and climate change adaptation.


Chapter 9: Infrastructure Delivery, Impact Mitigation and Monitoring


The final Chapter sets out the mechanisms for securing developer contributions towards infrastructure and social and community services, including contributions towards the A120-A133 Link Road and Rapid Transit System. Chapter 9 also sets out a draft framework of ‘indicators’ that the Councils’ will use as measures to periodically monitor the progress and success of the Garden Community and to determine whether any changes in approach are required when this Plan is reviewed.


Each of the themed chapters outlined above includes a summary of the Section 1 Local Plan requirements, a summary of engagement feedback, the principles for the theme, the policy, justification, a summary of alternative approaches considered, and questions.


Sustainability Appraisal


The policies in this draft Plan have been assessed against a series of ‘sustainability objectives’ as part of a ‘Sustainability Appraisal’. The Sustainability Appraisal is a legal requirement of the planning system which has helped the Councils to ensure that the social, economic and environmental impacts of the policies it has chosen have been identified and properly considered, and that the most appropriate strategy and policies have been chosen, when considered against reasonable alternatives. The Sustainability Appraisal concluded that taken as a whole, the draft Plan sets out a positive plan for the achievement of the Garden Community. The policies of the Plan set a high standard which development will be required to meet, and it is considered consistent with the principles of sustainable development. This draft Plan contains references to the Sustainability Appraisal and any alternative approaches that were considered through the plan making process.


What happens next?


Following the close of the consultation on this draft Plan, the Councils will carefully review and consider every comment received and prepare a final Plan to consult on, before submitting to the Secretary of State for examination. A Consultation Statement will be prepared summarising all comments received and how the Councils have taken these comments into account in preparing the final Plan. The graphic, below, summarises the indicative timeline.





From 14 March - 25 April 2022 the Councils ran a consultation on the Draft Plan for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community.

The information on this page provides an overview and links to the material that was published and consulted on at that time.

The Councils have now progressed to an updated version of the Plan - the 'Submission Version' which will be the subject of additional consultation and an 'Examination in Public'. For information on this please visit the Submission Version section.




Introduction


What is this document about?


This document is the first draft of a Plan setting out the detail of a new Garden Community proposed for land crossing the Tendring and Colchester border. It has been prepared by Tendring District Council and Colchester Borough Council, in partnership with Essex County Council (‘the Councils’). This first draft is the subject of a formal consultation, and we are inviting comments from all interested parties including (but not limited to) local residents, community organisations, statutory consultees and businesses. The Councils will consider all comments received, review the evidence base, and update this draft Plan accordingly and will carry out a further consultation on a proposed final version. This final version will then go forward for public consideration and scrutiny by an independent, government-appointed Planning Inspector via an ‘Examination in Public’ before making decisions on whether the Plan will be adopted.


What is the Garden Community and why is it needed?


To meet the needs of a growing population over the next 30 to 40 years for housing, employment and associated community facilities and infrastructure, the Councils are working together to plan for a new Garden Community. The Garden Community will be on a large area of land east of Colchester, bordering Tendring District and adjacent to the University of Essex.


The Garden Community will be large enough to accommodate new homes and supporting community facilities and services, alongside employment land for business and industrial use. It will be served by a network of green and beautiful spaces to promote wildlife, attractive places, healthy living, recreational activity, sustainable drainage and to tackle the climate emergency; and new services, facilities and infrastructure including a new Rapid Transit System (RTS) and a new dual carriageway Link Road between the A120 and the A133.


Building a new Garden Community brings the opportunity to create a brand-new place for people to live, work and play, which will be planned from the start to provide high quality, energy efficient and innovatively designed homes. These homes will be located in well-designed neighbourhoods to meet a variety of needs and aspirations, as well as jobs, transport infrastructure, green and blue infrastructure and leisure and recreation facilities.


By building a Garden Community, the pressure for existing towns and villages to expand around their edges across North Essex can be more carefully managed, to avoid housing developments that can overwhelm existing facilities and infrastructure and compromise the character and feel of existing communities.


What has already been agreed?


In 2021, Tendring District Council (TDC) and Colchester Borough Council (CBC) both agreed to formally adopt the ‘North Essex Authorities’ Shared Strategic Section 1 Local Plan’ (Section 1 Local Plan) which, amongst other things, identifies the broad location of the Garden Community and sets out the Strategic Policies and the overarching requirements and expectations that it will need to meet. The Garden Community will be underpinned by key ‘Garden Community Principles’ developed from the Town and Country Planning Association principles, in consultation with stakeholders, to be specific to North Essex.


The adoption of the Section 1 Local Plan followed years of technical analysis, public consultation, and an independent examination by a government-appointed Planning Inspector. The independent examination enabled the Planning Inspector to conclude that the Garden Community would be the most appropriate and sustainable option for meeting the need for long-term growth in the North Essex area – having considered and discounted a variety of alternative ideas and options.


To date, the content of this draft Plan has already been informed by technical evidence, masterplanning work and comments received through public engagement activities. However, like the Section 1 Local Plan, this more detailed Plan will also be the subject of a formal legal process of public consultation, decisions from locally elected Councillors, and an examination by an independent Planning Inspector once the final version is submitted. There is also now a legal requirement that this Plan will be reviewed every five years, to ensure it is kept up to date and responds, as necessary, to any changes in the economy or the environment, or actual changes on the ground, as well as complying with any new government policies.


Policy SP8 of the Section 1 Local Plan explains that this Plan must set out how the new Garden Community will be designed, developed, and delivered in phases, in accordance with a detailed set of principles. The Garden Community will be holistically and comprehensively planned with a distinct identity that responds directly to its context and is of sufficient scale to enable residents to meet the majority of their day-to-day needs, reducing the need for outward commuting. It will be comprehensively planned from the outset, with delivery phased to achieve the whole development, and will be underpinned by a broad package of infrastructure. Policy SP9 of the Section 1 Local Plan includes principles and requirements for the design, development, and delivery of the Garden Community under the themes of; Place-Making and Design Quality, Housing, Employment and Jobs, Transportation and Community Infrastructure. Relevant requirements from the Section 1 Local Plan are included in each of the themed chapters of this draft Plan.


In addition to the Section 1 Local Plan, TDC and CBC each have Section 2 Local Plans, which contain policies and allocations specific to each Council area. TDC adopted its Section 2 Local Plan in January 2022 and CBC is scheduled to adopt in Spring 2022. Requirements from relevant development management policies from TDC and CBCs Section 2 Plans have been included in this draft Plan. Therefore, proposals for the Garden Community will need to comply with all policies set out in this draft Plan, which replace all policies set out in Section 2 of either the CBC or TDC Local Plans. The Essex Minerals Local Plan and the Essex and Southend-on-Sea Waste Local Plan also apply to the Garden Community and plan policies will be applied where relevant.


Engagement


The Councils first step in the draft plan making process was the publication of a Consultation and Engagement Strategy in December 2020. The strategy outlined the approach the Councils would take to engage and communicate with various audiences, to help produce the content of the draft Plan. The strategy pointed out the different 'engagement’ and ‘consultation’ activities that the Councils would run. A dedicated website was established to provide a central source of information on the Garden Community and an engagement website was established, providing different tools to engage people. All of the engagement feedback has been carefully considered by the Councils and two reports have been published summarising feedback received. One report was prepared by the Councils and summarises the Council led informal engagement activity that took place between February – October 2021. The report looks at the feedback received, via the various engagement opportunities that were made available to the community and stakeholders. The other report has been produced by Traverse and Community Regen who were commissioned to design and facilitate an engagement programme over the summer and autumn of 2021, in close collaboration with masterplanners Prior + Partners, as part of their visioning work and for the preparation of the masterplan layout options. Each chapter of this draft Plan summarises the engagement feedback under each theme.


What does this draft Plan contain?


With the principle of a Garden Community already agreed, this draft Plan contains more detail about the development and the specific requirements that developers will be expected to follow, when applying for planning permission and carrying out the development. The draft Plan policies have been prepared to get the best possible design and placemaking. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a place for people to live, work and play in a better way.


The structure of this draft Plan follows some overarching ‘themes’ which emerged from the main requirements for the Garden Community set out in the Section 1 Local Plan, the National Model Design Code, the main topics of interest raised and discussed during public engagement activities and wider evidence gathering. The chapter themes are listed below.


Chapter 2: Vision


Chapter 2 sets out a vision for what it is hoped the Garden Community will be like in the future - informed by the discussions with residents, stakeholders and other interested parties through the various engagement activities undertaken. From the vision, a set of specific principles and objectives have been identified – to which all the policy requirements, and guidance in this draft Plan will help to achieve.


Chapter 3: Land Uses and Spatial Approach


Chapter 3 confirms the boundary of the Garden Community, includes a Key Diagram, and explains how planning applications for development of the Garden Community will be expected to come forward.


The big decisions about what land will be included in the Garden Community; how the development will broadly be laid out; which areas will be allocated to housing, employment, open space or other uses or infrastructure; and which areas will be protected from development, are set out in the Key Diagram. The Key Diagram has been informed by an evidence base supported by technical analysis, survey work and the comments of local people, stakeholders, and other interested parties as part of public engagement activities.


Chapter 4: Nature


Chapter 4 sets out the Councils’ expectations and its policy on nature within the Garden Community – including the protection and creation of open spaces and green and blue infrastructure; the planting of trees; tree-lined streets; the creation of wildlife habitats; the protection and enhancement of woodland, historic lanes and other important landscape, heritage, and biodiversity assets.


Chapter 5: Buildings, Place and Character


Chapter 5 contains the policy expectations for creating unique and distinctive places, buildings and neighbourhoods whilst respecting the character of nearby towns, villages, and heritage assets. It also sets out the details around the use of employment land; the promotion of economic growth and developing skills; as well as the creation of a variety of job opportunities across different sectors, including research and development, on-site construction and the service sector industries; and measures for embracing self-employment and home working.


Chapter 6: Community and Social Infrastructure


Chapter 6 contains the Councils’ expectations and policy on ensuring the Garden Community is served by community services and facilities of the right type in the right location, including schools and sports facilities; as well as access to health services and how the development will incorporate measures to encourage inclusive, healthy, and happy lifestyles.


Chapter 7: Movement and Connections


Chapter 7 sets out policy and expectations around the focus on active travel and the creation of ‘walkable neighbourhoods’ in the Garden Community where walking, cycling and rapid public transport facilities are prioritised, convenient and available to all as the preferred means of travel. It also sets out requirements for car parking for residents, workers, and visitors with the aim of embracing advancements in electric vehicle technology.


Chapter 8: Sustainable Infrastructure


Chapter 8 sets out the Councils’ aspirations and expectations for creating a Garden Community fit for the future and incorporates all measures aimed at tackling climate change, minimising carbon emissions and climate change adaptation.


Chapter 9: Infrastructure Delivery, Impact Mitigation and Monitoring


The final Chapter sets out the mechanisms for securing developer contributions towards infrastructure and social and community services, including contributions towards the A120-A133 Link Road and Rapid Transit System. Chapter 9 also sets out a draft framework of ‘indicators’ that the Councils’ will use as measures to periodically monitor the progress and success of the Garden Community and to determine whether any changes in approach are required when this Plan is reviewed.


Each of the themed chapters outlined above includes a summary of the Section 1 Local Plan requirements, a summary of engagement feedback, the principles for the theme, the policy, justification, a summary of alternative approaches considered, and questions.


Sustainability Appraisal


The policies in this draft Plan have been assessed against a series of ‘sustainability objectives’ as part of a ‘Sustainability Appraisal’. The Sustainability Appraisal is a legal requirement of the planning system which has helped the Councils to ensure that the social, economic and environmental impacts of the policies it has chosen have been identified and properly considered, and that the most appropriate strategy and policies have been chosen, when considered against reasonable alternatives. The Sustainability Appraisal concluded that taken as a whole, the draft Plan sets out a positive plan for the achievement of the Garden Community. The policies of the Plan set a high standard which development will be required to meet, and it is considered consistent with the principles of sustainable development. This draft Plan contains references to the Sustainability Appraisal and any alternative approaches that were considered through the plan making process.


What happens next?


Following the close of the consultation on this draft Plan, the Councils will carefully review and consider every comment received and prepare a final Plan to consult on, before submitting to the Secretary of State for examination. A Consultation Statement will be prepared summarising all comments received and how the Councils have taken these comments into account in preparing the final Plan. The graphic, below, summarises the indicative timeline.




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Page last updated: 26 Jun 2023, 09:14 AM