What is a Garden Community?

Garden Cities and Garden Villages have been successful models for creating new communities across the UK for over a century. The concept for Garden Communities has changed little over the years, from the famous original Garden Communities of Bournville, Welwyn and Letchworth in the early 20th Century, to the 21st Century Garden Villages launched by the Government in 2016. The vision for Garden Communities – well planned and self-contained settlements, as opposed to sprawling suburbia or overcrowded inner cities – has been hugely popular with planners and the residents who moved into them. Promoting health and wellbeing and a strong sense of community is an enduring part of the vision. Each community was designed at a sustainable size with a balance of homes, employment, education and community uses, all set within a beautiful landscape to promote healthy living. Each village was distinct, surrounded by its own green buffer of countryside and parkland.

15 Principles for Chelmsford Garden Community

Chelmsford Garden Community will be an exemplar founded upon 15 Principles, derived from the Garden City Principles set out by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), The Essex Design Guide and Chelmsford City Council Local Plan Policy for Strategic Growth Site 4.

Connecting town and country
A Garden Community linked to Chelmsford surrounded by the beautiful Essex countryside.

Bikes, bikes, bikes
Cycling is a way of life in the Garden Community. Everyone enjoys cycling, for leisure through the Country Park, to school, to commute and to visit the neighbourhood centres on safe cycling routes.

Connected communities
Smart homes. Digitally connected. The ability to work anywhere and the ability to communicate with people wherever you are. Fully integrated, attractive and accessible for all.

A home for everyone
Freedom to live how you would like to live. A new model for housing, a variety of homes, flexible and adaptable, for all generations and life stages – a balanced community.

Generous space, unbounded living
A new lifestyle, living within a community at one with wildlife and nature. The best of village life set within the countryside, a new model for the Garden Community.

Unrestricted workspaces
Liberty to weave work into your life, to suit you. Work from home, at the local café, in the community hub with the opportunity to collaborate with others and share IT facilities.

Interwoven with nature and wildlife
A bio-diverse and ecologically rich living landscape where wildlife and people live in harmony.

Outdoor living in explorable landscapes
Living within a Super Park, to be enjoyed in all weather and all seasons. A green network for playing, educating, producing, growing – a great garden to instil a love for nature.

Unrecognisable streets,
re-imagined for the future
With new travel models, the streets become community spaces for fetes and parties, slow movement routes for walking and cycling, or super-connected wildlife routes.

Sustainable identity
A vibrant place that flows with life and an environment where everything is working in sync. Electric vehicles and demand led public transport are integral to the running of the Garden Community.

An integrated and holistic network with no wastage
A new innovative approach to revolutionise how we reduce, reuse, recycle.

A sharing economy
Conserving resources through a communal approach to the acquisition and use of items for occasional use.

Gutsy growing and gardens
Food growing in allotments or community gardens and locally sourced food in edible landscapes and orchards. Spaces to educate, share and cook locally grown food.

Culture and community sharing
A ‘library of things’ where the community share tools, leisure and sports equipment, produce and skills.

Supreme stewardship
A community committed to long-term management through resident participation and leadership – maintaining the culture and ethos of the new Garden Community.

15 Principles for Chelmsford Garden Community

Chelmsford Garden Community will be an exemplar with 15 Principles, derived from the Garden City Principles set out by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), The Essex Design Guide and Chelmsford City Council Local Plan Policy for Strategic Growth Site 4.

Boundless Connectivity

Connecting town and country
A Garden Community linked to Chelmsford surrounded by the beautiful Essex countryside.

Bikes, bikes, bikes
Cycling is a way of life in the Garden Community. Everyone enjoys cycling, for leisure through the Country Park, to school, to commute and to visit the neighbourhood centres on safe cycling routes.

Connected communities
Smart homes. Digitally connected. The ability to work anywhere and the ability to communicate with people wherever you are. Fully integrated, attractive and accessible for all.

Liberated Living

A home for everyone
Freedom to live how you would like to live. A new model for housing, a variety of homes, flexible and adaptable, for all generations and life stages – a balanced community.

Generous space, unbounded living
A new lifestyle, living within a community at one with wildlife and nature. The best of village life set within the countryside, a new model for the Garden Community.

Unrestricted workspaces
Liberty to weave work into your life, to suit you. Work from home, at the local café, in the community hub with the opportunity to collaborate with others and share IT facilities.

Symphonic Sustainability

Interwoven with nature and wildlife
A bio-diverse and ecologically rich living landscape where wildlife and people live in harmony.

Outdoor living in explorable landscapes
Living within a Super Park, to be enjoyed in all weather and all seasons. A green network for playing, educating, producing, growing – a great garden to instil a love for nature.

Unrecognisable streets,
re-imagined for the future
With new travel models, the streets become community spaces for fetes and parties, slow movement routes for walking and cycling, or super-connected wildlife routes.

Wild Infrastructure

Sustainable identity
A vibrant place that flows with life and an environment where everything is working in sync. Electric vehicles and demand led public transport are integral to the running of the Garden Community.

An integrated and holistic network with no wastage
A new innovative approach to revolutionise how we reduce, reuse, recycle.

A sharing economy
Conserving resources through a communal approach to the acquisition and use of items for occasional use.

Spirited Stewardship

Gutsy growing and gardens
Food growing in allotments or community gardens and locally sourced food in edible landscapes and orchards. Spaces to educate, share and cook locally grown food.

Culture and community sharing
A ‘library of things’ where the community share tools, leisure and sports equipment, produce and skills.

Supreme stewardship
A community committed to long-term management through resident participation and leadership – maintaining the culture and ethos of the new Garden Community.