Comment

Funding announced for a new generation of new towns

As part of the Prime Minister’s plan to safeguard the delivery of new homes and jobs post Brexit, he is looking to local leaders, in collaboration with private sector stakeholders, to draw up proposals to deliver more new towns and economic growth opportunities on the scale of Canary Wharf and Milton Keynes.

Over the weekend, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick announced that the Government is to provide £10 million in seed funding for councils to locally lead and develop initial proposals for up to ten new communities. More details can be seen in the press release here.

The delivery of these large-scale developments will rely upon new development corporations. Alongside the Government’s announcement, a consultation has been launched to ensure these development corporations have the necessary powers to deliver new communities at the right speed.

The ambition of the development corporations is to bring together private and public sector partners that work with local communities to deliver new and ambitious regeneration schemes. Four models are proposed, which include new town development corporations and locally-led new town development corporations.

With an aim to encourage development outside of London and the South East of England, this announcement raises questions around which locations are most likely to enter the New Development Corporation Competition to gain funding. With the front runners being a new Development Corporation at Toton, Nottinghamshire taking advantage of the M1 and East Midlands Airport to create new jobs, new homes and the potential for a new freeport. Arguably, the Cambridge to Oxford Arc could also represent the ideal opportunity to showcase the implementation of these new development corporations, given that delivery has somewhat stalled over recent years, largely due to the absence of a single body driving the initiative into the delivery phase.

Will this announcement see the successful delivery of new towns by returning to the old method of development corporations with new and improved planning powers?

With this announcement, the Government clearly intends for the established development corporation model to be the catalyst for areas to promote locally ambitious plans for delivering the next generation of new towns for the 21st century. We are pleased to see that local authorities are actively encouraged to engage with private sector partners and come forward with ambitious proposals, which not only delivers on new homes but also the enabling infrastructure. However this comes at a price, all development corporations will be required to demonstrate a suitable business case. Therefore, local authorities and other partnerships will need to be well advised and have plans which are both viable and conceptually sound from the outset.

Although, the 1980s development corporation model appears to now be back in vogue, the planning landscape has changed significantly over the past 40 years, which suggests that newer models of public / private sector stewardship may need to evolve if theses ambitious plans are to be fully realised.

Turley welcomes this new agenda, and by combining a strong regional planning knowledge with core professional disciplines such as sustainability, economics, development viability, design and strategic engagement, we are well placed to help deliver on this bold ambition across all regions.

If you would like more information about the recently announced funding for new town proposals and what effect this will have on new communities, please contact Andrea Kellegher or Steven Kosky.

For further information on the impact this could have on the Cambridge to Oxford Arc, please contact Tim Burden.

 

29 October 2019