The Charter

Good growth – makes people’s lives, of all ages, better and mitigates the impact of climate change. It provides for better jobs and work-places and better housing choices. Better health and well-being, improved ecology and access to green spaces and provision of community facilities and infrastructure in advance of or alongside new development. It provides a platform for all communities and businesses to directly influence the best possible stewardship of their place.

Tewkesbury is a special place. The Garden Communities must support sustainable growth where possible. The programme will need to add to its success as a vibrant and historic market town.

We must see:

• Tewkesbury’s central role in the borough protected and enhanced.
• Existing communities becoming engaged in the process.
• The protection and enhancement of historic villages and their landscape.
• The protection of historic rights of way and improved access to the countryside beyond the Garden Communities.
• Travel routes from the Garden Communities to the heart of the town centre.
• The protection of mature trees, hedgerows and walking paths.
• The creation of major public green spaces around the Carrant and Tirle brooks.
• A clear strategy of how to link the town centre with new areas and addressing the needs of existing communities through new developments.

They will be inclusive and provide chances for residents to take ownership of community assets.
This will be managed with long-term support from developers and Tewkesbury Borough Council.

New development will support existing social infrastructure. Development proposals will ensure sustainable models of future maintenance are established ensuring a continued obligation for meeting the future needs of Garden Communities residents.

We must see: 

• Provision of new community assets, supported by existing parties for example; clubs, organisations and the parish and borough councils.
• A clear model for stewardship and ownership of community assets. This includes open space, supported through long-term investment.
• High quality and sustainable maintenance solutions for the long-term. For example, ensuring new trees thrive and grow.
• A community ownership and development programme, intended to allow for changing governance plans as the community grows.
• Potential for better delivery of borough and parish services across new and existing communities.

We want to encourage civic pride, investment and ownership by those who call it home. Each community will want to retain or develop its own unique identity, but also reflect the character of the wider area, adding a specific focus on existing architecture and locally distinctive materials to build new homes.

We must see:

• Affordable homes that meet the needs of the borough.
• Efficient use of the land through the creation of well planned new communities.
• Well-designed and high quality homes, regardless of tenure and size, all meeting nationally described space standards and the Future Homes and Buildings Standards.
• Flexible buildings that can evolve with residents over time, enabling people to work from home.
• Beautiful and characterful homes that embrace the history of Tewkesbury and the surrounding area.
• The use of local materials.
• All homes to front on to public open space and green, people friendly streets.
• Every home to have access to private or communal open space.
• Homes for later living to be at the heart of each community.
• Opportunities for community-led or self-build developments.
• Development will undergo a building for a healthy life assessment and meet these requirements.

A new network of neighbourhood centres will be comprehensively designed and planned providing
easy access to shops, community facilities and other services such as healthcare.

New employment areas within the development will be accessible by sustainable travel options and will be well connected to new as well as the existing communities.

We must see:

• Local live/work units, co-working space and employment sites for high-value sector growth.
• Focal points for each community. Such as large village centres with schools, shops and business spaces, to small neighbourhood hubs. These will create a space to meet neighbours and friends, grab a coffee or nip to the shops.
• New public green spaces that deliver fantastic play and leisure space for all ages. These will be at the heart of each community.
• New health facilities to be accessible for everyone within the Garden Communities.
• New primary and secondary schools that allow children to walk and cycle to school.
• Improved services from Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station. These will enable sustainable access to other employment centres in the region.
• High speed fibre internet access to all properties to support digitalisation.
• Accessible and inclusive sports facilities. Facilities should be affordable for residents and support existing clubs in Tewkesbury to grow and thrive.
• Employment is an essential part of the Garden Communities and all development will be expected to support the delivery of new employment opportunities.
• Accessible and inclusive cultural and arts facilities

The Garden Communities will deliver sustainable travel options, to encourage journeys to be via walking, cycling or public transport.

We must see:

• Focus on walking, cycling and improved access to public transport.
• Communities that are compact and mixed use, allowing residents to reduce their need to travel long distances.
• Attractive walking and cycle routes across the Garden Communities. Plus, better access to local schools and the town centre.
• Streets designed for people, not cars. Including a maximum 20mph speed limit throughout the Garden Communities.
• Promotion of cycling across the Garden Communities through safe and convenient routes, away from primary roads.
• Use of data and local information to support active and sustainable travel.
• Infrastructure must be delivered alongside the development of housing.
• Development will support the A46 to become a more attractive route for walking and cycling.
• The delivery of a strategic traffic solution to reduce existing congestion and support housing and economic growth.
• Development must support improvements to Ashchurch for Tewkesbury train station to allow for increased usage as well as improved links to the train station.

The Garden Communities will value the protection of existing features. The communities will both embrace the natural landscape and create attractive new spaces. The goal is to support residents’ physical and mental wellbeing and to connect people with nature.

We must see:

• A minimum of 50% of the Garden Communities area will be allocated to green infrastructure, including public open space, playing pitches, allotments and private gardens.
• Existing landscape features protected and improved to add character within the Garden Communities.
• New publicly accessible landscapes that protect and buffer existing communities.
• Significant new green corridors around the Carrant and Tirle brooks.
• A network of greenways and quiet lanes to preserve the rural character and give access to green spaces.
• Nature outside every home – through a network of open spaces, community gardens, street trees and pocket parks.
• A minimum of 10% Biodiversity Net Gain delivered. Aimed to support ecological resilience and recovery and and following government recommendations as a minimum going forward and as such future proofing new development.
• Inclusive public space for all ages. Set to promote health and wellbeing through exercise, play and community interaction.
• Space for growing fruit and vegetables on a community level.

A programme sustainability plan will be developed to support the borough’s carbon reduction strategy. The strategy will be in response to the Climate and Ecological Emergency.

We must see:

• Compact and connected new communities that promote walking, cycling and public transport over private cars.
• Walkable communities where residents have easy access to schools, jobs and leisure.
• New homes that as a minimum meet the future homes and building standards.
• New homes and public buildings that reduce the need for energy. This could include the new and most up-to-date energy efficient building materials and ‘passivhaus’ design techniques or other innovative measures of similar or better standard.
• Smart monitoring of water use, energy use and waste generation to preserve precious resources.
• The use of renewable energy through current best practice technologies such as Photovoltaic panels, heat pumps or similar on all new buildings.
• Careful selection of materials within the public realm and buildings to reduce carbon.
• The use of permeable materials that help to reduce water run-off in extreme weather events.

Responding to the local character and the borough’s identity as a great place to live and work, development will take influence from the historic character of the area. A new community, with distinct character areas will be created.

We must see:

• Existing communities to get involved in the process, sharing understanding of what makes each area unique.
• Different scales of public open spaces, connecting communities with nature from major green corridors to small community gardens and green streets.
• An understanding of historic landscape character and protection of important natural features. For example, hedgerows, watercourses and field patterns.
• Human scale development with streets designed for people, not cars.
• A variety of structural styles. These range from tight-knit urban development around the station to new villages that reflect their rural area.
• Public buildings such as schools and community centres to be at the heart of each new community.
• A clear strategy of how to link the town centre with new areas and addressing the needs of existing communities through new developments.
• New development proposals will undergo a Building with Nature assessment
• New development proposals will undergo a Building for a Healthy life assessment
• New development proposals will be subject to a Design Review.

They will support the retention of water in safe areas. More so, they will help to protect Tewkesbury and surrounding communities from the worst impacts of climate change.

The Garden Communities will celebrate water, such as creating a new landscape of ponds, meadows and rain gardens that create space for leisure and wildlife.

We must see:

• Existing watercourses protected and enhanced for nature and recreation.
• Creative and comprehensively planned solutions for flood and water management to support the unique identity of the Garden Communities.
• Thinking across the Garden Communities to create a landscape to reduce water run-off issues that the area faces.
• Water infrastructure to be attractive and a valued part of the public realm.
• Future proofed proposals to ensure climate resilience in the future.