Garden Villages and New Towns Development Conference; Sponsored by DAC Beachcroft

Parliament – Lord Matthew Taylor,

Lord Matthew Taylor (Lord Taylor of Goss Moor) advised both the last labour government and the coalition on planning and housing policy, publishing the landmark Living Working Countryside review in 2008, and leading the creation of the government’s new National Planning Practice Guidance in 2014. He chairs the St Austell Eco-Town partnership and provides consultancy on other sustainable development and new community projects. He completed his term as Chair of the National Housing Federation in September 2015. In January 2015 he published with Policy Exchange his report, Empowering localism to solve the housing crisis through garden villages, and he continues to actively engage with government on planning policy and housing delivery. He was formerly the Liberal Democrat MP for Truro and St Austell from 1987 to 2010.

Homes England – Fionnuala Lennon, Head of Garden Communities

Homes England are supporting the development of 43 new Garden Communities across the UK through funding and strategic advice and 2023 has seen an acceleration in planning and delivery of schemes. Fion joins the conference alongside members of her team to actively engage with delegates from across the supply chain and ecosystem and talk about how her team can help realise levelling up related regeneration going forward.

Birmingham City Council – Paul Kitson, Strategic Director – Place, Prosperity & Sustainability

Birmingham City Council are pioneering the cities development and regeneration. Planning sustainable growth through the city,  the masterplan is due for completion by 2031.  Improving the city centre transport hub by investing £600 million on the major redevelopment of New Street Station and an additional £128 million in the Metro extension. Aiming to create over 100,000 new jobs and delivering 6000 sustainable,  affordable homes.  Paul Kitson will be joining the session to discuss the current major projects and an insight into the Birmingham’s development masterplan.

Portsmouth City Council – Natascha McIntyre Hall, Assistant Director, Strategic Developments

Natascha is heading up the team behind the impressive £1bn, 4000 home community of Lennox Point in Portsmouth. More than simply a place to live, their eco conscious approach to delivery will see the creation of a major marine employment hub creating thousands of jobs and will be underpinned by a “car free” approach. She joins the conference to talk about bringing their vision to life and what she is looking for from built environment organisations in regards to collaboration in the coming years as well as revealing plans for the city centre regeneration of Portsmouth.

Cyber Central Garden Village – Tim Atkins, Managing Director of Place and Growth

One of the masterminds behind the 3000 home Cyber Central Garden Village and business park project, Tim will join the session to talk about the challenges and opportunities that face his team as they aim to deliver two million square feet of office space alongside a major residential area. Golden Valley- as it is to be called upon completion- recently finished its public consultation stage and are now working with a number of developers to kick start development on site.

Welborne Garden Village – Fiona Gray, Project Director

Buckland Developments are the Master Developer of Welborne in Hampshire.  The project is unique in many ways with a legacy vision to deliver homes, employment, infrastructure, green space and more for a sustainable new community in the region.  Fiona is leading on the development and will join the conference to update the audience on the scheme which will include 6000 homes, a multitude of local amenities set against the backdrop of a green, leafy environment.

Grosvenor – Rupert Biggin, Senior Project Manager

Rupert is a qualified project manager and chartered civil engineer with over 15 years of design, planning and delivery experience both internationally and across the UK. He is a Senior Project Manager in Grosvenor’s Strategic Land team working on the promotion of new communities across South East England, currently acting as the Project Manager for two Garden Villages in Oxfordshire and Essex.

As lead on the Salt Cross Garden Village scheme in Oxfordshire, Rupert and the team at Grosvenor are promising to deliver a 21^st Century Town featuring 2200 homes and 57000 sqm of employment space with a net biodiversity gain due to 40% of the site remaining undeveloped and 4 hectares of new woodland being planted. He will also talk about their innovative approach to community engagement.

Otterpool Park LLP – Julia Wallace, Senior Project Manager

Vistry Group – Andrew Taylor, Group Planning and Communities Director

With last year’s acquisition of Countryside Properties, Vistry have increased their already huge pipeline of homes to be delivered across Garden Communities in the UK becoming one of the most prominent investors in these visions. Having become Visty’s Group Planning Director, Andrew will be well placed to discuss their plans which include 5,000 homes in Sherford near Plymouth, the 10,000-home Chelmsford Garden Community, 3,000 homes as part of the new Ashmere community in the Ebbsfleet Garden City masterplan, and around 1300 homes at Alphington, Exeter.

Harlow and Gilston Garden Town – Naisha Polaine, Director

Harlow and Gilston Garden Town is the region’s most significant housing project in the region for a generation, with 16,000 new homes to be delivered by 2033, with a further 7,000 planned for 2033 onwards by a partnership of five local authorities. Unique amongst garden towns, it will see the regeneration of Harlow town centre as well as the development of new homes. As well as the new homes and town centre regeneration the project will also include a relocated hospital, new schools and new transport services including a forward thinking active travel plan.

Eco Bos – Dorian Beresford, Chief Development Officer

Formed in 2010, Eco Bos is a joint venture between Orascom Development Holding and Imerys to develop a series of sustainable communities, with a pipeline of around 5,000 properties. West Carclaze Garden Village is a part of this scheme and spans across a 500-acre site at the heart of Cornwall’s Clay Country. Plans for the new community include 350 acres of managed country park, 1,500 energy efficient homes, a 210 place primary school and nursery, and a 7MW solar park. Dorian joins us to diccuss the project and Eco Bos’ wide aims to develop sustainable communities throughout the UK.

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils – Nicky Wyer, Didcot Garden Town Team Leader

Didcot Garden Town will deliver 15,000 new homes via a delivery plan that is spread over 60 phases of differing projects. Included in the masterplan will be a new train station and active travel routes connecting the development. With a unique approach to consultation via their “Residents Sounding Board”, Nicky joins the event to talk at depth about timelines for delivery and their lifecycle approach.

Avanton – Omer Weinberger, Chief Executive

With a £480m development pipeline across London, Avanton specialise in large scale urban residential regeneration. Their two flagship schemes are the £250m 1.8 hectare Urban Village project in Richmond which will deliver 1152 new homes and a sports complex alongside a £230m development on the former SGN Gasholders site which comprises of 750 homes and over 50,000 sq ft of light industrial commercial space. Omer leads a team of property innovators who are experienced in transforming places and joins the conference to showcase their thought leadership and best practice.

Halsnead Garden Village – Laura Bailey, Development Lead

Set to be Merseyside’s largest ever housing development, Halsnead Garden Village was awarded official Garden Village status in 2017 and recently took some big steps forward by receiving planning permission. Comprising of 1600 homes and a new school, the site will also feature a large scale warehouse development creating 1000 new jobs. Laura joins the event to talk about their plans for delivery and the wider regeneration agenda in Knowsley.

Letchworth Garden City – David Ames, Executive Director of Stewardship and Development

Letchworth Garden City was the world’s first ever garden community development and has acted as a model example as to what can be achieved with the right planning, consultation and delivery by transforming a previously underinvested area of Hertfordshire into a vibrant, modern place to live and work. With a 20 year development programme, David joins us to talk about his learnings since 2011 and how the site will continue to evolve until full completion in 2031. This includes the next phase of development- LG3- which is currently in consultation phase.

Changing Cities – Joanna Chambers, Director

Changing Cities is an independent Planning and Development Company based in London which focuses on master planning, urban regeneration and stakeholder engagement. With a particular focus on imagining future place, Joanna joins the event to give some case studies on the future of the garden village sector.

Cornwall Council – Phil Mason, Strategic Director of Economic Growth and Development

Fresh from submitting the planning application for the creation of 3500 different types of new homes, 200 specialised later life living developments, 50 residential units for key workers as well as a raft of community and leisure facilities which includes the “Stadium for Cornwall”, Langarth Garden Town is broken down into six distinctive neighbourhoods. Phil joins the conference to talk about the many hurdles ahead in making their project a reality and how he is turning to built environment experts to help bring forward this major scheme in the coming years.

UK Innovation Corridor – Jackie Sadek, Chair

More information to follow…

Urban Silence – Martina Juvara, Director

Urban Silence are engaged in a plethora of major placemaking developments and are notable for their sector acclaim and thought leadership in relation to their work on the Harlow and Gilston Town Neighbourhood Plan which many say is a model that should be adopted nationally for consultation and planning processes in the future. Martina joins the session to give some thought leadership perspective on approaches to planning.

Summix Capital – Greg Mitchell, Executive Planning Director

Greg is an Executive Planning Director at Summix. He has over 35 years’ experience in town and country planning, principally within the private sector and development industry. He has extensive expertise in the planning and implementation of new settlements and strategic scale development in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes and the West Midlands region. Summix are actively promoting new settlements, based on Garden Communities principles, through the development plan process in Worcestershire, Oxfordshire and Solihull. The largest is in the South Worcestershire Development Plan where Summix have the majority land interest in a proposed allocation for 10,000 dwellings in the emerging Regulation 19 Plan.

Cumberland Council – Jane Meek, Assistant Director Thriving Place and Investment

Jane will join the conference to update on the plans for St. Cuthbert’s – by far the largest site, in terms of capacity, from the Government’s Garden Village Programme. The £225m Southern Link Road will unlock St. Cuthbert’s which will see 10,000 homes built over the next 30 years as well as employment opportunities which will bring significant benefits to Carlisle and the wider county.

Shaptor Capital – Marco Nardini, Managing Director

Shaptor Capital have announced plans for a new 1750 home Garden Village between Faversham and Canterbury that presents some unique and interesting infrastructure related challenges. Marco joins the event to share details of the project and also talk about their wider organisational expansion plans.

Infrastructure Projects Authority – Karl Fitzgerald, Director of Housing and Regeneration

Karl is a Project Director and Commercial Advisor in the government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority. He is a chartered civil engineer with over 25 years’ experience in infrastructure planning and masterplanning for large-scale development projects, and spans consultancy and the public sector.

Karl reports to Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, and  advises government departments on successful delivery of major government infrastructure programmes such as the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), the Oxford to Cambridge Arc portfolio and Freeports. Previously at Homes England, Karl led the technical specialist team for the Advisory Team for Large Applications (ATLAS). There, he acted as an advisor to a range of public and private sector stakeholders, engaged in the planning and development of large-scale mixed-use developments, and new communities. He was also responsible for technical direction to major initiatives such as the new settlement at Northstowe, and the Hospital Sites Programme for the Homes and Communities Agency.

Transport for New Homes – Jenny Raggett, Director

Transport for New Homes have been working with a number of developers and local authorities to push for more active travel solutions to be included in large scale housing developments. As part of the event, Jenny will share some positive examples at where Garden Villages are getting it right while also exploring what future transport and infrastructure challenges and opportunities are emerging.

Urban & Civic – Adam Pratt, Development Director

As one of the UK’s leading Master Developers Urban&Civic’s 11 strategic sites, with 6 in delivery, have the potential to deliver 50,000+ homes. Their latest project is a joint venture with Hertfordshire County Council to deliver a £500m urban extension including 3,300 homes together with commercial uses and associated infrastructure, including new schools and a country park. They are also currently finalising the planning prior to the delivery of a 794 acre new community at Manydown, on the western edge of Basingstoke. Adam is responsible for the acquisition and early stewardship of new projects within U&C’s growing portfolio of strategic development sites.

Hill Group – Matt Tunley, Head of Strategic Land

In partnership with L&Q Estate, Hill Group are proposing the delivery of the 8500 new home Westley Village project in Cambridgeshire. Set on 1350 acre farmland, the area represents a huge opportunity for economic growth. The JV is hoping to include the site in the next local plan and Matt will talk in depth about the challenges and opportunities facing his team to make this scheme a reality.

Manydown – Andrew Reynolds, Project Director

Manydown will be a thriving new community of up to 3,520 new homes, two new primary schools, land for a new secondary school plus a new 250 acre country park near Basingstoke. The new garden community is set to be delivered in a unique partnership between Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council, as landowners, and Urban&Civic, supported by the Wellcome Trust. Andrew will be on hand to give more details on the latest phases of this massive scheme for the region.

DAC Beachcroft – Lucy Walsh, Head of Strategic Land

More information to follow.

Exeter City Council – Richard Marsh, Project Director

Exeter City Council have massive plans for a new garden city. Named Liveable Exeter, approximately 12,000 homes will form part of the garden city over 9 key sites to be developed over the next 20 years. Richard will give more details on the exciting plans for Liveable Exeter which the council believes is key to driving growth and delivering their ambitions to be a sustainable city and a world leader in addressing the social, economic and environmental challenges of climate change and urbanization.

Stantec – Keith Mitchell, Regional Director: Infrastructure

Keith joined Stantec (formerly PBA) in 1984, was invited into partnership in 1994, and was elected chairman of PBA in 2010, with responsibility for the strategic development of the Practice. Keith’s professional experience encompasses a range of national infrastructure and infrastructure planning projects, transport led development and growth strategy projects, and town centre and urban regeneration schemes in the UK, Europe and Australia.

Keith has also worked with a wide range of professional bodies, together with local and central government to influence thinking about development and infrastructure planning. He has acted as Chairman of the Transport Planning Society in 2001, was Chairman of the Transport Planning Skills Initiative between 2002 and 2004, the TPP Professional Standards Committee between 2008 and 2010, and was Board Chairman of the National Infrastructure Planning Association from 2010 until 2015.

In recent years, Keith led the NIPA Insights research programme which focused on the effective delivery of major infrastructure, worked with the British Property Federation and Revo to identify a new approach to reinvigorating town centres; worked with Highways England on their drafting of Planning for the Future – its guide to working with HE on planning matters; worked with the CIHT to develop its Better Planning, Better Transport, Better Places Guidance, and with RTPI on its research into the complexities of infrastructure planning in the UK.

Arcadis – James Halse, Account Director

More information to follow.

Built Environment Networking – Amanda Griffiths, Director

Amanda is one of the Co-Founder’s of Built Environment Networking – formed almost 10 years ago.

She’ll be hosting throughout the day, running the days proceedings and managing the interaction between our delegates and the speakers.

Maidstone Borough Council – William Cornall, Director of Regeneration and Place

A fresh masterplan is in the works for the exciting Heathlands Garden Village scheme in Kent which will see 4000 new homes, new schools and a new road link to connect the project up to the A20, built over the course of 20 years. The timing of this conference couldn’t be better for William and his team who will deliver some interesting insights into how they intend to deliver the project and the complexities surrounding it.

The Land Trust – Euan Hall, Chief Executive

The Land Trust is a charity that is committed to the long-term sustainable management of open space for community benefits – and they’re planning a crucial role in pushing forward this agenda across garden communties and the creation of new towns and villages. Euan will share the trusts vision to improve the quality of people’s lives by creating sustainable, high quality green spaces that deliver environmental, social and economic benefits.

CEG – Jon Allen, Head of Strategic Development South

CEG are the master developer delivering one of the government’s first official garden villages at Dunton Hills in Essex. The development will consist of 4000 new homes and community facilities, shops and business space. Jon will talk in depth about the development timeline and also touch on the concepts behind the scheme.

Built Environment Networking – Fahmida Nisa, Host & Event Manager

Nisa is a research, marketing and content specialist at Built Environment Networking. She will be hosting a number of the sessions throughout the day, running the day’s proceedings and managing the interaction between our virtual delegates and the speakers.

DAC Beachcroft – Christopher Stanwell, Partner

Christopher is a Planning and Environmental Lawyer in our London Office. Christopher leads our national Planning team and is a member of the Real Estate Executive. He specialises in advising for both private and public sector clients on a wide range of planning, compulsory purchase, highways and public law matters, with a particular emphasis on mixed-use regeneration, housing, retail, and infrastructure projects. Christopher also has extensive judicial review experience, which includes hearings in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

DAC Beachcroft – Crispin Tomlinson, Partner

Crispin has broad experience in residential and commercial development, specialising in the house building industry. He advises housebuilders on the drafting and negotiation of large and complex acquisition/site assembly agreements, sale and development agreements, option agreements, sales to housing associations, conditional contracts and collaboration agreements.

Specialist Risk Group – Michael Grimwood, Business Development Manager UK

CLS are an innovative insurance MGA in the UK & Europe. They are insurance veterans, unlocking real estate developments & transaction with the use of Data & Capacity Strength. Their tools increase the bankability of an asset and protect those known and unknown legal and planning risks at every stage of the property life cycle.

Arcadis – Richard Jones, Senior Technical Director

Richard has over 24 years’ experience working with public and private sector in delivering large scale development in the UK and internationally. He is a Director at Arcadis and leads the Development Led Infrastructure Group supporting the delivery of viable, deliverable infrastructure solutions that can unlock regeneration and development.