More than 60 organisations, including councils, professional bodies, trade associations, charities, developers and designers, are calling on the Government to reinstate a reference to garden city principles in the draft National Planning Policy Framework.
As it stands, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires local authorities to consider whether large-scale developments that follow the principles of the garden cities is the best way to achieve sustainable development. Those principles include capturing land value for the benefit of the community, community ownership of land and long-term stewardship of assets.
However, the draft version of the new proposed NPPF currently out for consultation does not include a reference to the garden city principles.
Now around 60 signatories have called on the Government, through a joint statement, to put the principles back in, as they are not included anywhere else in Government policy.
The joint statement, which can be viewed in full on the Town and Country Planning Association's website, sets out that: "Meeting the nation’s housing needs involves more than just delivering housing units; we need to create beautiful places which offer a wide range of employment opportunities and genuinely affordable homes, while enabling more sustainable lifestyles. The Garden City principles can deliver all this and are underpinned by a financial model which not only enables fast delivery but puts people at the heart of delivering new places and provides resources for the long-term stewardship and maintenance of a high-quality public realm and high-quality community facilities.
"Re-committing to the Garden City principles in the NPPF is the starting point to unlocking a new generation of highly sustainable places that meet housing, employment and quality of life needs while promoting innovation. We recognise the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to building communities the nation can be proud of, and we urge the Government to ensure the Garden City principles are reinstated in the NPPF."
