Gillespies attends the TCPA Garden Village Study Tour

Associate Partner Jim Fox and Associate Emilie Leclercq, both Urban Designers in Gillespies' Manchester and London offices respectively, attended a 2-day study tour organised by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), to explore what the original model and garden villages could teach them about long-term stewardship and placemaking.

The tour included visits to a number of garden villages including historic Bournville, Port Sunlight, Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust’s Derwenthorpe, and Lightmoor, where Gillespies has recently completed Croppings Park (pictured left).

Jim Fox, Associate Partner and Head of Urban Design in Manchester, commented;

"From these visits we learnt a number of important principles that should be applied in order to create a successful garden villages, such as the need for scale - over 1,500 homes - to sustain facilities, the importance of the landscape and public realms being supported by effective maintenance and stewardship, and to focus on community-making as well as place-making.

We met a number of local authorities and private sector delivery partners on the tour including our Carlisle City Council client for St Cuthbert’s Garden Village, Bath Council, who need support with two Garden Villages, as well as the Bournville Village Trust who have kindly offered space and support in their offices to workshop ideas."

The government are continuing to support Garden Communities with large-scale, housing-led developments, with expressions of interest from developers and local authorities encouraged by November.

If you have any thoughts or questions please contact Jim Fox or Emilie Leclercq.