The South Maldon and North Heybridge Garden Suburbs will be high quality, vibrant and distinctive neighbourhoods that will complement and enrich the character of the Maldon district and protect and enhance the environmental qualities of the area. The garden suburbs will contain local centres with a mixture of both community and business uses and served by public transport and connections to town centres by accessible and safe walking and cycle routes.
They will have large open spaces and ample landscaping for healthy lifestyles and well-being. We recognise the challenges of housing growth but have ensured that the guiding principles deliver a long-term legacy for those who will live within and alongside the garden suburbs.
The LDP allocates approximately 2,600 dwellings and 4.5ha of employment land to the strategic allocations at North Heybridge and South Maldon. Strategic masterplan frameworks (SMFs) have been adopted for each garden suburb to illustrate, using maps and policies, details for each garden suburb relating to strategic infrastructure, highways and access, flood alleviation, design guidelines, ecology and green infrastructure.
- South Maldon Garden Suburb Strategic Masterplan Framework (DOC121)
- North Heybridge Suburb Draft Strategic Masterplan Framework (DOC122)
The SMFs are the result of collaborative working between the Council, land owners / promoters, developers, relevant stakeholders and the local community. The SMFs endorse garden suburb principles and to enable a co-ordinated approach to deliver the level of growth detailed in policies S3 and S4 of the local development plan and provide guidance to inform planning applications.
The South Maldon Garden Suburb Masterplan has been adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document by the Council on 22 March 2018.
Strategic design codes have been prepared to ensure design quality throughout each garden suburb. The strategic design codes are a set of illustrated design requirements leading from the SMF for the strategically important infrastructure that is central in defining the garden suburb character. Design codes cover built edges, green spaces, green edges and primary streets throughout the garden suburb to ensure consistency of design on the key structuring elements throughout the phasing of the development. Design guidance accompanies the design codes and covers character areas, gateways, car parking, materials and public realm and bin storage.
- South Maldon Garden Suburb Strategic Design Code
- North Heybridge Garden Suburb Strategic Design Code
Community liaison panels are an exciting opportunity for the community to help guide and influence the implementation of the garden suburbs. The panels are advisory forums, which allow discussion and the sharing of constructive ideas regarding the expected outcomes of delivery and future quality management of the garden suburbs. The panels will receive regular updates and provide a sounding board for emerging proposals, providing a strategic direction and ensure that community interests are represented at each stage of project completion.