Four Essex Councils take the next steps towards creating garden communities but warn they must be delivered to high standards.
Braintree District Council writes:
Cabinet members last night agreed with recommendations that Braintree District Council – along with Colchester Borough Council, Essex County Council and Tendring District Council – should have a more direct approach to ensuring that, if the proposed Garden Communities go ahead, they are delivered and meet the high standards expected of them – in terms of housing quality and design, open space provision, roads, schools, healthcare facilities and sustainable transport systems.
To progress the project, Braintree District Council’s Cabinet approved proposals to create a company which would lead the work to create the Garden Communities. The company would be known as North Essex Garden Communities Limited, with each Council appointing a director to its board.
The North Essex Garden Communities Limited will then establish further companies known as Local Delivery Vehicle for each proposed garden community. These will be known as West of Braintree Ltd, Colchester Braintree Borders Ltd and Tendring Colchester Borders Ltd. In principle, the four authorities will agree to provide an appropriate proportion of necessary funding to each of the Local Delivery Vehicles, subject to satisfactory business cases and funding options available at the time.
The Garden Communities sites are subject to allocation through the Local Plan process, which is determined by the borough or district councils following consultation and public examination.
