A vision outlining how a new garden village of up to 5,000 new homes near Cullompton could be developed goes before councillors next week.
Mid Devon District Council’s cabinet is being recommended to approve putting out the Culm Garden Village Vision and Concept document for consultation, as well as the consultation for the first phase of a masterplan for East Cullompton.
The ‘Culm Garden Village’ was one of only 14 areas awarded Garden Village Status by the Government in January 2017. Around 2,100 homes will be built by 2033, while developers also want to construct a relief road to run through Cullompton and to reopen the town’s railway station.
The Garden Village eventually has the potential to deliver up to 5,000 sustainable new homes in a country park landscape, with jobs, community facilities and transport, all integrated with Cullompton itself.
Plans to reopen Cullompton railway station – which opened in 1844 but closed in 1964 – are also an ambition as part of the project, as the station is considered a key part of the development strategy for the revitalisation of the existing town.
The Local Plan proposes the allocation of a site of 160 hectares to the east of Junction 28 of the M5 for the development of the initial new settlement in the East Cullompton area, with 1,750 houses to 2033 with at least a further 850 to follow.
As well as new homes, at least one new primary school, a secondary school, a country park, new sports facilities, reopening of the railway station and up to 32,000 sq m of employment land close to the M5 are included in the masterplans.
Junction 28 of the M5 will also need to be improved to enable all of the East Cullompton allocation to be developed, the report says, but it adds that East Cullompton, in combination with the urban extension to the north-west of Cullompton, presents an opportunity, to resolve town centre traffic problems and provide an alternative or improved means of access onto the M5.
The East Cullompton allocation would form part of the new garden village, and the draft Neighbourhood Plan, published for consultation in March 2017, supports the idea of the wider garden village beyond the local plan allocation.
The Vision Statement says: “Culm Garden Village will be a new settlement in the exceptional Mid Devon countryside that will become a distinctive, vibrant and inclusive place that is physically and socially integrated with the historic market town of Cullompton. Residents will feel a strong sense of shared identity, civic pride and community ownership.
“The garden village will carefully and imaginatively use the outstanding natural environment to create a successful and sustainable place set in a beautiful landscape setting. New infrastructure, parks and open spaces connect local people to a range of jobs, facilities, recreation and services that are accessible to all.
Has ambitious employment opportunities and provides a range of opportunities and supporting the growth of Exeter as a regional green economy hub.
The report to Mid Devon’s cabinet adds: “While the full extent of the Garden Village is not yet known and will need to be identified and consulted upon and then allocated in future plans, potentially through the emerging Greater Exeter Strategic Plan, the conceptual work done to date has identified some natural boundaries to what might be the potential developable area.
“The preparation of the Vision and Principles for Cullompton Garden Village and the engagement and discussions with the local community and stakeholders has informed the evolution of an initial Concept Plan.
“There are policy requirements for the East Cullompton allocation that might be quite different from the policy requirements for the entire garden village. For example, an urban extension of 1,750 new dwellings is unlikely to need a secondary school, whereas development at the scale of the wider garden village will.
“The secondary school is not required for the Local Plan Review allocation so has to be placed outside the allocation boundary, but for good placemaking reasons needs to be close to the centre of the garden village.
“Likewise, the neighbourhood centre should be located centrally within the garden village, but the centre of the whole garden village is likely to be different to the centre of the East Cullompton allocation.
“The concepts plan for the East Cullompton allocation has been developed with this longer term aspiration in mind and to ensure that a comprehensive, coordinated approach to the overall scheme is taken.
Subject to approval by the council’s cabinet, the first stage of public consultation is set to take place between January 18 and March 1, 2019.
Mid Devon District Council’s cabinet meets on Thursday, January 3.
The 14 new garden villages will be in: Long Marston in Stratford-upon-Avon; Oxfordshire Cotswold in Oxfordshire; Deenethorpe in Northamptonshire; Culm in Devon; Welborne in Hampshire; West Carclaze in Cornwall; Dunton Hills in Essex; Spitalgate Heath in Lincolnshire; Halsnead in Merseyside; Longcross in Surrey; Bailrigg in Lancaster, Infinity Garden Village in Derbyshire; St Cuthberts in Cumbria; and North Cheshire in Cheshire.
The three new garden towns will be in the Aylesbury area of Buckinghamshire; Somerset (Taunton area) and on the Essex-Hertfordshire border (Harlow and Gilston).