A cluster of major developments in Ashford, Kent, have been included in a national government housebuilding initiative and allocated £150,000 funding to support their delivery.
The government has announced that 19 new garden villages will be built across England. The South of Ashford Garden Community will provide 7,250 homes for the scheme.
The community includes the Chilmington, Court Lodge and Kingsnorth Green developments, and will receive a share of the £3m fund to help with the next stage of their development.
Construction at Chilmington is underway while sites at Court Lodge and Kingsnorth Green are allocated for development in the Local Plan to 2030, and planning applications for these sites are due to be considered by the planning committee in the coming months.
The creation of well-planned and designed, locally led garden communities makes a critical contribution to the government’s ambitions both to build 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, and to provide a stable pipeline of homes for the future.
These places are designed to become vibrant new communities where people can live and work, and to create a legacy that will be enjoyed and valued by future generations. The Government believes they set a new standard for planning and delivering new settlements at scale that can support a local area’s housing and economic growth ambitions and recognises that delivering them carries costs that go beyond the typical remit of local authorities.
Minister of State for Housing Kit Malthouse MP said: “Building the homes the country need is vital to the nation’s success — but they need to be homes that will become part of thriving communities; places where the generations who come after us want to live.
“I am confident that South of Ashford Garden Community will do just that, and I congratulate Ashford Borough Council for stepping up to the mark, demonstrating real determination which helps deliver our ambition of 300,000 new homes a year from the mid-2020s.”
Cllr Neil Shorter, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Development said: “We are pleased to receive this funding from the government, which will help us to make sure these developments are sustainable and complement each other as they come forward.
“As well as the funding support, we will receive advice from Homes England and cross-government brokerage to resolve strategic policy barriers to delivery. We look forward to discussing this in more detail with them in due course and considering how the funding can be put to best use.”
