Lidsing Garden Village
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G GAR IN D S EN ID L V ILLAGE A VIBRANT MIXED USE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY 1 2 Contents 1.00 Introduction 5 Environmental Baseline Conditions 63 2.00 Site Location and Ownership 6 Components of Development Proposal 66 3.00 Collaborative Development Partnership 10 Timeframe for Development 68 4.00 Climate Change 11 Conclusions 69 5.00 Design Philosophy 12 3 A place with its own identity and character where design and layout of a planned mixed-use garden community with business park has been landscape led as part of a holistic design approach combining ecology, Sustainable Drainage Systems and a network of recreation/open space provision that also provides links with the services and facilities available in the nearby Medway area. VISION INTRODUCTION 4 The need for housing-led development is not addressed in this document as its purpose is to firstly identify to members and officers that a mixed-use garden community spatial approach for accommodating the borough’s future development needs can deliver significant sustainable and place-making benefits which justify its inclusion as a central building block of the Local Plan Review Spatial Strategy. The document aims specifically to demonstrate that comparatively, the Lidsing Garden Community can provide a self-contained settlement with: 1. Less environmental impact, and 2. Represents a more sustainable location than alternative options and 3. benefits from an existing landscaped framework to deliver a quality place with its own identity that will create a forward-thinking village pro- viding a new way of living for its community. The aim is to build confidence that through collaborative planning the proposed settlement can achieve a new style of living that responds to. What people want? 1. A home that is affordable and cheaper to fuel and has less environmental impact. 2. Places less reliance on the car for everyday movements and will reduce time spent commuting to work. What should the planning and design process be striving for? 1. Encouraging a healthy lifestyle through walking and cycling. 2. Creating a mix of uses 3. Reducing reliance on the car for everyday movements 4. Fostering a sense of community through design and encouraging social interaction. What are the concerns of existing communities surrounding the site as neighbours of the planned development? 1. That supporting infrastructure is delivered alongside new growth. 2. To alleviate rat running through Bredhurst and Boxley and the existing urban areas of Hempstead and Lordswood in Medway. The Lidsing Garden Community can offer a unique and collaborative approach to deliver the vision, because of one main factor, explained overleaf – which is that all of the development land is within the single ownership of the Attwood family. As a result, there can be a direct part- nership between the landowner and the master planners, because direct negotiation between the landowners advisory team and the Local Planning Authority in exploring possibilities and testing options opens up greater design possibilities and a truly creative approach for planning new ways of living that reflect input from a wider range of stakeholders. VISION INTRODUCTION 5 The Lidsing Garden Community relates to two areas of land; • 125.5-hectares (ha) located to the north of the M2 motorway, which is Medway wholly outside of the AONB, where the MEDWAY mixed-used garden development will be focused; and • 20ha area of land to the south of the motorway which can provide a direct access spur from Junction 4 of the Gibraltar Farm M2 motorway and over 19ha of new Development publicly accessible managed woodland planting. This area is the only portion of the totality of the site that lies within the AONB, and no residential or commercial development is planned within this area. The land area lies adjacent to the Bredhurst northern-most boundary of Maidstone (identified by the light green outline) beyond which is Medway Council’s administrative area. It will be shown later in this document that a housing development of 450 dwellings has been Maidstone approved on a site known as Gibraltar Farm, which lies just within the Medway boundary, directly adjoining the northern boundary of the site. SITE CONTEXT 6 Total area of 145-hectares, com- prising: • 125ha to the north of the M2 motorway, all of which lies out- side of the AONB and all within the single family ownership of the Attwood Family. • 20ha south of the M2. This area will be planted as a 19ha wood- land and provide a road link di- rect to Junction 4 of the M2. No other development is planned within this area. OWNERSHIP EXPLAINED OWNERSHIP 37 Whilst the vision is to create a self-contained settlement with its own identity for the Lidsing Garden Community, there is a wider framework of nearby services and facilities which will also assist with reducing the reliance on the vehicle for everyday movements. This section of the document reviews the locational advantages of this site which include: • The proximity to Junction 4 of the M2 motorway which is also relevant to the decision to include a 20ha business park within the overall development mix; • The proximity of the site to Wigmore Coach Park and Ride which is operated by Kings Ferry. • The proximity of the site to Hempstead Valley Regional Shopping Centre. • Gillingham Business Park. A major source of employment opportunity which lies to the north of the site • The Lordswood Leisure Centre which lies within 650 metres of the site. • There is an existing network of bus routes to Chatham shopping centre, from the Lordswood and Hempstead areas. However it is recog- nised that there is currently no east-west public transport connection between the two which is addressed in the transport section of this document. Although situated at the northern boundary of the borough beyond the AONB, the development site will be accessed independently from M2 Junction 4 without the need to travel through Bredhurst village. Although the centre of Maidstone lies geographically close, to the southeast of the site, and there are two direct connections via the A229 Bluebell Hill, the objective is to plan a self contained new garden settlement. The planned and existing community can benefit from improved public transport linkages and accessibility improvements which will connect the site with the surrounding Medway urban area. This is a key point because whilst the objective of Lidsing Garden Community is to create a self contained place within a landscaped framework through the mix of uses proposed, the planned development will not “turn its back on” the nearby urban areas (and the 450 consented dwellings at Gibraltar Farm, which adjoins the boundary) and opportunities for cycle way and footpath linkages, improved road and bus connectivity and integration with existing green infrastructure, and the existing services and facilities identified above, will add to the sustainable credentials of this location, notwithstanding the fact they lie in a different administrative area. Located within the northern most portion of the borough beyond Boxley and Bredhurst, the planned vision is to create a self-contained gar- den community through the design pathway outlined below, however, it is evident because of the proximity of the land to the urban edge of Medway, that there is a framework of existing employment, retail, leisure and public transport that will, which the planned community can con- nect to in order to realise overall sustainability benefits. A planned garden community in this location can comparatively achieve a greater modal shift, which will also complement the health, social/ community and environmental objectives that are key to creating the vision for this development. LOCATIONAL CREDENTIALS OF SITE LOCATIONAL 8 9 To take forward the vision for the Lidsing Garden Community, a unique partnership approach is proposed, which will combine the certainty of dealing with a single landowner alongside a consultancy team that will collaborate with decision-makers, local stakeholders and statutory consultees: Direct Professional Involvement of Consultancy This partnership allows: Single Team • greater creativity during the masterplanning as all possible options Landowner for development can be explored • a more holistic long-term visioning approach • improved land-value-capture as developers and housebuilders promotional discount and uncertainty about calculations of what • LPA represents open market value do not apply • Local Stakeholders • better place-making outcome • Statutory Consultees • inclusive process which is more responsive to local needs • Local community • with land in single family ownership, there are no disputes between • Infrastructure individual landowner’s expectations that arise when landownership Providers is more fragmented Visioning & Masterplanning Transfer of Land to Housebuilder Delivery A UNIQUE & COLLABORATIVE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP A UNIQUE & COLLABORATIVE 10 The development team recognises the importance of climate change and its influence on the vision and decision-making outcomes of the masterplanning process, as identified in the diagram below. ENERGY EFFICIENCY CLIMATE CHANGE FLOODING & DRAINAGE • Resource efficient design: New development will • Integrating drainage into design follow the principles of the energy hierarchy. • Surface water managed and reduced via SuDs . • Layout and orientation for solar gain, preventing • Use of natural systems with ecological and recreational overheating and use of natural heat