Carrant Garden Neighbourhood
Northway
Newland Homes, a trusted house builder with its roots in Gloucestershire, is bringing forward a vision for Carrant Garden Neighbourhood as a natural extension to Northway, aligned to the aspirations of the North Ashchurch Garden Community. The site has fantastic connections to the countryside and surrounding facilities in Northway and Tewkesbury.
You can find out more by looking through our website, attending our public exhibition event (details below). You can also provide feedback by visiting our Have Your Say page.
Newland Homes’ vision is for exemplar zero carbon homes, meeting needs of local families, providing 40% Affordable Homes and significant green open space.
This website provides an overview of the evolving vision for Carrant Garden Neighbourhood.
Newland Homes would welcome feedback from key stakeholders and the local community, so that the proposals can continue to evolve positively.
Attend our public exhibition
You can find out more by attending our public exhibition event at:
Northway Community Hub
- Tuesday 26th November 2024
- 3pm to 8pm
- Northway Community Hub, Lee Walk, Northway, GL20 8QG
Planning Context
Strategic Plans
Carrant Garden Neighbourhood is located within Tewkesbury Borough Council, which adopted its Local Plan in June 2022. The Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Gloucester Joint Core Strategy – 2011 to 2031 (JCS) was adopted in 2017.
The three authorities are now evolving a new Strategic and Local Plan (SLP), which will replace the JSC. The SLP will set out targets for new homes, jobs, infrastructure and facilities, including looking at options for significant new settlements and urban expansions, such as proposals for Tewkesbury Garden Communities.
Tewkesbury Garden Communities
In 2019 Tewkesbury Borough Council was granted Garden Town Status by the Government. The Council and partners have since been evolving the concept for Tewkesbury Garden Communities grouped around the train station and A46, and to the East of the M5.
A key element of the Tewkesbury Garden Communities is a strategic site in North Ashchurch that is being promoted by the North Ashchurch Consortium. This strategic site would deliver circa 4,000 new homes and meet local community, healthcare, shopping and leisure needs.
While Newland Homes is not part of the North Ashchurch Consortium, land owned by Newland Homes at Carrant Garden Neighbourhood has been shown in the north east corner of the North Ashchurch Garden Community masterplan.
Carrant Garden Neighbourhood has a close relationship to the North Ashchurch Garden Community, but occupies a unique position, well related to the existing facilities within Northway, easily accessible from the existing road network and not requiring new strategic infrastructure investment to deliver the site.
The site therefore has the ability to come forward as a sustainable and cohesive standalone development, forming a precursor to the North Ashchurch Garden Community and ensuring that it facilitates the strategic infrastructure required by future development.
Newland Homes is fully committed to working in close partnership with Tewkesbury Borough Council, Homes England, and the North Ashchurch Consortium. Our aim is to ensure that the proposals for Carrant Garden Neighbourhood not only complement, but actively support and enhance the wider vision for the Garden Community.
Carrant Garden Neighbourhood is an opportunity to set the bar at the highest level in terms of sustainability, design and delivery, which sets a precedent for future development across the area.
The Site
Carrant Garden Neighbourhood occupies circa 23 hectares (59 acres) of private land situated immediately north of Northway’s built-up area and northeast of Tewkesbury.
The site is set within a similar topography as the existing area, with a gentle south westerly slope which provides views of Bredon Hill and the wider landscape.
- Hardwick Bank Road forms the site’s southern boundary and provides access to the road network.
- The M5 motorway is within 200 metres to the west of the site.
- There is a Grade II listed Mill and Farmhouse located in the north west corner of the site, which provides an important heritage asset.
- The eastern boundary of the site is defined by a hedgerow which forms a buffer to the mainline railway carrying trains connecting Bristol and the south west to Birmingham.
- The Carrant Brook flows along the northern boundary of the site and forms a rich ecological habitat corridor. The development will not encroach on the natural setting of the brook.
Why Carrant Garden Neighbourhood?
We believe that the site is a sustainable and suitable location for new development:
- The site is located outside the environmental constraints that apply across large parts of the borough such as the Green Belt, AONB, heritage sites and those sites that primarily sit within the flood plain.
- The site is within walking distance of everyday facilities in Northway, including various schools, shops and employment opportunities, it is also well positioned for access to local bus routes, pedestrian and cycle facilities.
- The site’s location in Northway means that new homes would be in close proximity to the largest concentration of jobs in the borough.
- The proximity of Ashchurch railway station enables sustainable travel connections to major centres of employment and commerce across the south west and midlands.
- Spatially, the site will form a natural extension of homes in Northway and benefits from existing landscape features such as mature boundary trees, a meandering brook corridor, hedgerow boundaries and field ditches, which provide the opportunity to enhance and respect the wider landscape setting and benefit local biodiversity.
The Vision
Carrant Garden Neighbourhood forms a natural direction of growth for Tewkesbury in a sustainable location, linking with existing local infrastructure in Northway. The scheme will form a natural transition to the potential wider Garden Town area and will facilitate early delivery of an exemplar zero carbon residential neighbourhood.
A high-quality masterplan has evolved responding to the site’s characteristics and creating a well-connected urban extension to Northway. The masterplan would enable the following benefits to be delivered:
Meeting Local Housing Needs
New Homes
Up to 500 new homes will be provided, focusing on local family needs.
Affordable Homes
The site would include up to 40% affordable housing options (in accordance with local planning policy), addressing the significant need for affordable homes across the area.
Maximizing Green Infrastructure
Green Spaces
The site will provide significant areas of
green open space that will enhance biodiversity and
support public enjoyment.
Carrant Meadows
A large green gateway, preserving the setting of the Grade II listed Mill, will act as a community asset for recreation.
Promoting Active Travel
Community Integration
The development will naturally extend Northway, forming a well-connected urban extension that links with existing facilities and infrastructure.
Sustainable Travel Infrastructure
The site’s design prioritises new pedestrian and cycle routes by providing over 1.5km of new routes to connect residents to existing routes to local schools, shops, employment opportunities, and public transport, including Ashchurch Railway Station.
Mobility Hub
A central mobility hub will offer sustainable transport options such as car clubs, bike and e-scooter hire, taxi ranks, and real-time public transport information.
Heritage Conservation
Carrant Meadows
This area will serve as an attractive green arrival and enhance the historical significance of the Mill, blending heritage with the new development and reinstating community orchards.
Defining a Town Edge
Landscape Buffers
Significant green buffers, combining existing mature landscaping and new native planting, will ensure the development sensitively blends into the local landscape from day one.
Town Edge
The site will create a new firm settlement edge, forming a visually attractive boundary to the north.
Sustainable Living
Zero Carbon Development
Newland Homes proposals will exemplify a zero-carbon residential community, featuring homes oriented to maximize solar energy, sustainable construction, and on-site renewable energy sources like heat pumps.
Water Management
Attenuation ponds will manage water runoff sustainably while creating biodiverse wetland habitats.
Maximizing Green Infrastructure
Green Spaces
Half of the site will be provided as green space, through landscaping, gardens and publicly accessible green space that will enhance biodiversity and support public enjoyment.
Carrant Meadows
A large green gateway, preserving the setting of the Grade II listed Mill, will also act as a community asset for passive recreation.
Building a community
Community Hub
A new social space will be established at the heart of the development, fostering community interaction and providing essential everyday facilities.
Green Spaces for All
The masterplan includes two children’s play parks, three community orchards, two allotment spaces, and a Village Green, designed to encourage socialising and recreation.
Legacy
Newland Homes is committed to creating a lasting positive impact, ensuring that the new community grows in a healthy and natural environment that sets the standard for future developments.
By blending thoughtful design with sustainable practices, the Carrant Garden Neighbourhood will offer a high-quality living environment that respects local heritage, embraces the future, and meets the needs of its residents today.
Masterplan
A Connected Neighbourhood
We recognise that development can have an impact on existing infrastructure and are committed to positively managing the movement of people to ensure changes to the local highways are minimal and the community benefit from a range of improvements.
The masterplan proposals for Carrant Garden Neighbourhood have evolved to ensure that new strategic infrastructure required by the North Ashchurch Garden Community is complemented and actively supported by Newland Homes’ proposals. The transport strategy for Carrant Garden Neighbourhood seeks to deliver on three core principles:
Minimising the need to travel
Northway enjoys a wide range of facilities and services including retail, employment, education, leisure, sports and public transport provision, all within a 10-minute walk of the site.
A key masterplan objective is to facilitate safe pedestrian and cycle routes to these destinations, reducing the need for car ownership and increasing wellbeing. Additional retail and employment opportunities in Tewkesbury town centre are easily accessible from the site by bus or train.
Bus stops on Hardwick Bank Road are served by buses 41 and 71 which loop around Northway, Tewkesbury and beyond. The railway station located at Ashchurch, accessible from Ashchurch Parkway, provides regular connections to Cheltenham (15 min), Gloucester (20 min), Worcester (25 min), Birmingham (45 min) and Bristol (70 min).
Promoting sustainable travel
A range of initiatives are being explored to further encourage sustainable travel choices, including:
- A central mobility hub will offer sustainable transport options such as car clubs, bike and e-scooter hire, taxi ranks, parcel drop boxes and real-time public transport information.
- Providing over 1.5km of new pedestrian and cycle links to ensure safe and convenient movement between Carrant Garden Neighbourhood, Northway and Ashchurch Garden Community.
- Opportunities to improve wider cycling infrastructure by improving connections to the town centre and railway station.
- Travel planning, including travel vouchers, journey information packs and initiatives to encourage sustainable choices.
- Provision of new green spaces; enhancing access to nature.
Managing car use
- The site is well connected to the local highway network, allowing connections further afield via the A46 and Junction 9 of the M5 motorway.
- Vehicular access to the site is likely to be provided from Hardwick Bank Road to the west and south.
- Safeguarded land to enable the future delivery of a bridge link over the railway to Ashchurch Garden Community.
- Electric Vehicle charging points will be provided to every new house within the development.
Landscape & Heritage
- Carrant Meadows will provide a significant area, approximately 3.3ha (8ac), of new green space and planting along the southern edge of Carrant Brook for nature, biodiversity and passive public enjoyment.
- A series of pocket parks provide opportunity to create fertile gardens and meadow planting to promote community health and well-being.
- New allotments will be provided in two locations across the site.
- Enhanced water courses, including at Carrant Brook, new attenuation ponds and swales, will nurture wetland habitats and provide betterment to the site’s water management.
- A variety of public green spaces, such as natural play space, woodlands, community orchards and pedestrian and cycle routes, will provide new and existing residents with ample opportunity for family foraging, natural play and passively enjoying nature.
1
Green Corridors
2
Allotments
3
Green Cycle Routes
4
Enhanced Water Courses
5
Bio Diverse Habitats
6
Setting of Northway Mill
7
Existing Woodland
8
Natural Play Spaces
9
Community Orchards
Heritage
The Grade II listed Northway Mill and Farmhouse have been preserved since the C17 along the Carrant Brook corridor. The new development will ensure that there is no significant impact upon the current setting of the Mill by preserving and enhancing the existing environmental features that contribute to the Mill’s setting, including: important hedgerows, the Carrant brook waterway, public routes, the earthworks of the possible medieval moated farmstead, and views from the Mill House to rural land in the south.
New green space and planting will be provided along the southern edge of Carrant brook to soften the edge between green corridor and new homes, as well as to minimise the visual impact of development. The northern part of the site will remain entirely as a natural green space and will therefore not impact the visual setting of the countryside to the north.
Sustainability
Newland’s ambition is to create a zero-carbon neighbourhood which makes it easy for people to follow healthy lifestyles while reducing their energy consumption.
This includes:
- Each residential parcel within the development is laid out within a 25° orientation of due south, maximising the potential for passive solar gain and photovoltaic panel technologies.
- Heat pumps will also be used to provide further on-site and on-plot energy generation.
- New homes will be positioned within short walking distances of gardens and parks
- Active travel routes as well as a new mobility hub will be provided to encourage active transport and remove reliance on the private car.
Drainage
BWB Consulting, Newland Homes drainage and flood engineering consultant, have fully modelled the site for flood risk. The modelling shows that a small area of the site to the north is within the floodplain extents for 1 in 100-year (plus 21% for climate change) and 1 in 1000-year flood events.
The area that is within the floodplain in these scenarios is set aside for green infrastructure and ecological enhancements. The majority of the site, including the 9.14 hectares where housing will be located, is identified as being outside the flood plain and at low risk of flooding.
The incorporation of Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), including a network of blue infrastructure features, including swales and drainage verges will convey water to the lower areas of the site where it will be dispersed into ponds, surface water attenuation basins, and the existing Carrant Brook. The risk of flooding within and beyond the site, arising from the development, will therefore be no more than it currently is as a greenfield site.
The retention of the existing Carrant Brook river corridor as part of the blue / green infrastructure, will provide ecological benefits and improved amenity space for the development.
1
Attenuation Ponds
2
Swales/Rain Gardens
How you can provide feedback
Thank you for visiting our website. You can provide your views to us using the link below.
Your feedback and comments are important to us and your ideas will help us to shape and evolve a comprehensive and positive masterplan for Carrant Garden Neighbourhood. We would welcome your feedback before our consultation ends at the end of December 2024.
- newlandhomes@devcomms.co.uk
- 0800 080 3177
- FREEPOST DEVCOMMS
Staying up to date
We will keep our website regularly updated. If you would like to stay updated with the proposals please provide your contact details via the website, or by using a comment form today.