Planners respond to Government’s garden towns announcement

In response to the Government announcement today of a new garden communities programme to increase the number of in garden towns in England, Victoria Hills MRTPI, Chief Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute, says:

“The Government’s garden towns programme is critical to solving the housing crisis and creating quality and healthy living places that so many of us desire and need. It is clear from our research that piecemeal incremental developments alone will not meet the demand for new quality homes.

“However, delivering large-scale development requires strategic leadership, skills and approaches that are likely to be unfamiliar to many local authorities. It is vital that planning teams are properly resourced to deliver at a more strategic level.

“We have seen too many large developments in the wrong place with no proper strategic planning and consideration for quality design, jobs, infrastructure and amenities. Central and local government must put proactive planning at the centre if they are serious about making a success of developing new garden villages and housing at scale.”