Last night Langarth Garden Village won the Planning for Increased Housing Delivery Award at the 2022 nationaI Planning Awards.
The prestigious annual awards celebrate outstanding professional planning work by local authorities, consultants, developers, lawyers, voluntary and neighbourhood groups and all the other key players in the planning system, with winners chosen by an expert panel of judges from across the sector.
We are very proud that our project was chosen as the winner in this key category which is awarded to projects which will deliver homes that will improve the physical or environmental quality of a place, or the economic or social well-being of a community.
Announcing the result, judges said that Langarth Garden Village will provide quality homes to meet Cornwall’s desperate demand for homes, and praised Cornwall Council’s leadership in making the decision to intervene to ensure that not only would the project be delivered, but that it would be delivered to a high standard.
They also highlighted the “sense of green community which runs at the heart of the masterplan. “
“The impact LGV will have on the future of sustainable living is exemplary, in line with Garden Village principles “ they said. “People will have access to sustainable transport and well-planned communities with easy access to both nature and community facilities.
“It will increase biodiversity by circa. 20% and provide 50,000 new trees / woodland, with allotments, edible streets, and a community farm allowing new residents of LGV to live amongst nature whilst being only 15 minutes away from Cornwall’s city.”
“I am delighted that the Langarth project has been recognised on the national stage and am particularly pleased with the judges’ comments on how the project will support sustainable living” said Councillor Olly Monk, the portfolio holder for housing and planning.
“We said from the beginning of this project that we wanted Langarth to set a gold standard for all future development in Cornwall. Our plans are focused on working with the landscape to make the most of the natural environment, creating a nature friendly community with a mix of high quality, well designed homes of different sizes, types and tenures which meet local needs and which are adaptable for different stages of life.”
Following the unanimous decision of the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee to approve the planning application in December 2021, and the subsequent formal granting of planning permission, the focus has now moved onto delivering the scheme.
This phase is being led by Programme Director Harry Lewis who is working with partners to turn the masterplan into reality.
The Garden Village will be delivered in phases over a 20 to 25 year period, with up to 200 new homes being constructed each year. Other elements, such as the new primary schools, community facilities, live work and co living spaces, and green and leisure areas, will be constructed at different phases during the scheme as set out in the masterplan.
One of the first elements to be constructed will be the Northern Access Road (NAR) which connects all the development on the site and provides a route from the A390 through Langarth to the Royal Cornwall Hospital Treliske. The interim link road, which will provide access for the construction of the NAR was completed last year, with work on building the NAR due to begin this Autumn.
Once the first section of the NAR has been completed, and subject to the reserved matters applications being formally approved by Cornwall Council, work will begin on building the first new homes. Construction is currently expected to start in 2023/24.
