As Langarth Garden Village will be developed over the next 20 to 25 years we want to create a place where children and young people currently at school will choose to live in in the future.
Langarth will provide a safe and healthy place for children and young people to live and learn, with opportunities for children to develop in close relationship with the landscape. With two new primary schools, pre-school and nursery education, safe walking and cycling routes and plenty of open spaces, leisure and play areas to encourage them to be active, together with community facilities, Langarth will be a great place to raise a family.
We are looking at options for a new secondary school, potentially on the North Coast. In the short term, we are working with Richard Lander School to develop plans to increase its capacity to accommodate additional pupils during the first few years of the development and to reduce the need for young people from the North coast to have to be driven into Truro.
Delivering dreams
To ensure our new community meets the needs of young people both now and over the next 20 to 25 years, we have been asking them about their dreams and aspirations for the future as well as looking at how to provide the facilities which meet their current needs.
We invited young people in local primary and secondary schools, as well as students at Truro and Penwith College, to think about the future place and tell us the things they felt were needed to create a thriving, buzzing community, fit for future living.
They told us they wanted “stuff to do” – indoor and outdoor spaces with activities from sports pitches to BMX trails, as well as quiet spaces for walking and hanging out, with woodland walks and climbing walls.
Putting the environment first
They also came up with some inspiring suggestions for what Langarth could contain, how green spaces should be designed and how technology could be integrated into day to day living.
Specific ideas included putting the environment first by providing homes which are eco friendly, with renewable energy and clever water usage; improving public transport to reduce car usage, with electric car and bike hire on the site, and areas to grow food. They also wanted as much green space as possible to be protected, with new trees planted to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality.
All these ideas are being factored into our plans.
Developing new ways of working
As well as providing an environment which tackles climate change, we are also working with partners to offer opportunities for work / live solutions, and developing projects which will promote talent and develop skills, including apprenticeships.
We know that tomorrow’s generation will be working in very different ways, and our plans will provide the most up to date technology and infrastructure so future residents will be able to work from home, from the park, coffee shop or wherever they choose to.
Integrated public transport and improved footpaths and cycleways will mean that if you do need to travel to work, your daily commute will be a short walk, cycle or bus ride from home.
Helping future generations to thrive
It was great to see young people thinking about what goes into creating a place. From homes to community centres, green spaces to skate parks, they were full of ideas and enthusiasm and their on-the-spot ability to problem solve and bend and flex their designs based on each other’s thinking was brilliant.
We want Langarth to be a place where future generations can thrive and communities can connect with each other. We look forward to working with more young people as the development progresses so we can deliver their aspirations and create a new vibrant and sustainable community which meets their needs – now and into the future.
