Rudi.net: "Ebbsfleet in Kent is to morph into a garden city with an initial 15,000 homes, says Government"

Link to web site

"George Osborne said the government's initial plan was to build 15,000 new homes in Ebbsfleet:

"We're going to create an urban development corporation, so we're going to create the instrument that allows this kind of thing to go ahead and cuts through a lot of the obstacles that often happen when you want to build these homes.

There are already some homes being built on the site, so progress was under way, but it was on a much, much smaller scale and with much less ambition than what I'm setting out."

"... But the Town and Country Planning Association says Britain needs dozens of new garden cities, and they won't be as easy as Ebbsfleet to get built.

"With planning permission for 8,000 homes already in the bag, its close access to Bluewater shopping centre, the A2 and M25, as well as sitting on the fastest rail track in the country, Ebbsfleet is the low-hanging fruit."

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Link to web site

Planning Resource:
"MP urges high standards of design at Ebbsfleet garden city"

"The Tory MP who drew up the party's planning proposals when in opposition has said that the government must ensure that the proposed garden city at Ebbsfleet is not made up of 'rabbit hutch' homes.

"Speaking during a debate on measures in the Budget, Henley MP John Howell, who wrote the Tories' Open Source Planning green paper when in opposition, said that a 'key element' of the Ebbsfleet garden city 'must be an emphasis on design'.

"Howell said:

"It is essential that it is an attractive place where people want to live. Design must play a key role because of the important that the project will have in the minds of other people who are thinking about having a garden city.

We do not just want rabbit hutches and boxes to be built. All eyes will be on this city in determining whether communities are willing to participate."

"... Meanwhile, Tory MP Gareth Johnson, whose constituency includes the site of the proposed Ebbsfleet garden city, said:

"The scheme is bold and forward thinking and, if implemented correctly, will enhance the local area and help ease some of the pressure on housing in the South-East.

It is crucial that local people form part of the decision-making process. ... There must be opportunities for local people to input their thoughts and suggestions, as the concept simply will not work if the development is imposed on local residents." [Didn't stop Barnet Council and Hammerson at Brent Cross, though, did it?]