Our vision
Living in Langarth means being part of a distinctive, vibrant community. Beautifully designed homes meet the needs and budgets of all sectors, set in high quality open spaces. A community providing an unrivalled quality of life. Where walkable corridors connect schools, innovative workspaces and health, cultural and leisure facilities. A community where residents of all ages can enjoy the benefits of rural life. With easy access to, and positive connections with the city and surrounding communities.
Langarth has green infrastructure at its heart, with people prioritised over cars. Residents can walk, cycle or use public transport to travel for work, school or leisure. This is a community for all. It works during the day and the night, where people can get together with their family and friends. Langarth is a place where people will live, work and thrive.
The story so far
The Langarth development has a long and complex history. This resulted in the granting of planning permissions to many private sector developers.
Some local people have raised concerns about the:
- quality of the proposed development
- impact on existing traffic
- Others worry about increased pressures on local schools and health services.
Cornwall Council wants to ensure that all new development is of the best quality that it can be. In January 2019 Cornwall Councillors took the decision to intervene. £159 million was allocated to support the development of a masterplan and key infrastructure for the whole site.
Planning application
Application PA20/09631 was submitted in November 2020. It received planning permission in April 2022. You can find details in the online planning register using this link: PA20/09631
Compulsory Purchase Order process
After getting planning permission, the Langarth project team have been progressing a CPO process. This will give Cornwall Council the rights to develop the land. It means the Garden Village will be delivered. You can find the latest information and published documents at:
Visit the Langarth webpage to read more on the story so far or view an updated timeline from 2021 onwards.
Environment
Garden villages are by their nature green. We recognise the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife. We want to create a new place with green infrastructure at its heart. Green spaces will be connected and varied to help establish and enhance wildlife habitats. Wildlife (and people) can move from one green space to another – essential for encouraging biodiversity.
We have researched the habitats and habits of species such as:
- bats
- owls
- kingfishers
- voles
- badgers
to understand what is already on the land. This will protect the most valuable habitats. It will also create other habitats, including wetlands, ponds and areas of tree planting. The masterplan will look at creating new green corridors and enhancing the existing ones.
The emerging scheme includes re-designing the road through the site as a tree-lined avenue. It also looks at providing sports pitches and public open spaces for play and recreation. These will be connected by walkable green corridors. Access to the existing countryside will be improved. New cycleways and pedestrian walkways will connect all parts of the development and create river and woodland walks.
We will also be providing a new woodland area as part of our plans to create a Forest for Cornwall.
We want to create an enhanced surface water drainage system. This will consist of new ponds, wetlands and swales. These features will help increase biodiversity and protect and enhance species.
These green spaces, wildlife areas, woodlands and natural water features will be for everyone. Those living at Langarth Garden Village and those from neighbouring areas.
We are working with environmental experts as well as with the local community. We are carrying out a full environmental impact assessment as part of our planning application. This includes transport impact, air quality and noise assessments. The scope of this will be agreed with the Environment Agency.
We recognise the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife.
Working within the landscape we will create a new village on natures terms, we will:
Preserve more greenspace
Protect existing Cornish hedges, rivers and wetland areas to provide habitats for insects, song birds and badgers.
Use sustainable drainage as a natural flood prevention system. This will mean planting over 5 hectares of new trees and woodland to support cleaner air and help capture carbon. This will furthermore increase biodiversity by up to 20% across the site.
These Green spaces, wildlife areas, woodlands and natural water features will be for everyone- both those living at Langarth Garden Village and those from neighbouring areas.
Homes and Living
Langarth Garden Village will be a vibrant, connected, sustainable and well planned community. This will provide homes for between 8,000 and 10,000 residents of Cornwall. It will have:
- Local character
- Strong services
- Intergraded and accessible transport
- Green and Open spaces.
Home to people of different ages and lifestyles, Langarth will provide a mix of housing sizes, types and tenures to meet local needs.
The new development will include:
- New schools
- Health, cultural, faith, leisure and community facilities
- Innovative and flexible workspaces
- These will be set within open and walkable green landscapes with trees, walking and cycle ways.
Pedestrian and cycle links into Threemilestone and the surrounding communities will be created and enhanced. There will be new areas of forest, parks, public sport areas, and Green civic and amenity spaces.
At least 35% of the homes will be affordable. There will be homes designed for older people and those with special needs. There will also be key worker accommodation and good quality Council Owned market rented homes. We want the new community to reflect the area’s existing natural character and heritage.
The Council is looking at opportunities to increase the number of homes provided at Langarth through the masterplan. This will help provide more facilities and much needed housing. It will also reduce the need for further greenfield land for housing to meet local needs.
We want to plan and deliver the new community as a whole. This means we can shape services such as schools and GP surgeries around future resident numbers from the start. The size, shape and feel of these services is then informed by the number of homes and future residents at Langarth.
This ensures we can include appropriate services and infrastructure within the emerging Masterplan. This helps to prevent extra pressure on existing local services. We are currently analysing potential housing numbers. We are also exploring how we can create more clusters with apartments and mixed use local centres to deliver more homes in certain areas. Adding land at West Langarth and changes to the retail sector means we can now use areas allocated for retail or commercial use for homes. This enables us to provide more homes without increasing the density on the site. This exercise is currently underway.
Langarth offers an exciting opportunity to create a new community, which is resilient, adaptable and fit for future living. We are working with the wider community alongside key delivery partners to shape this.
High-quality homes and a good quality of life go hand in hand. This means setting high standards of design and place making. All homes will need to be a minimum size, and be adaptable and fit for the future. They will also have to meet modern environmental standards.
Our environmental standards will include:
- reduced energy consumption
- water efficiencies
- use of renewable and low carbon technologies
We recognise the need for jobs. We are working with partners to make sure that the scheme provides:
- more employment opportunities
- specific support for start-ups
- growth for small and medium sized enterprises.
Langarth Newsletter
Our monthly newsletter will keep you in touch with what is happening with the development of Langarth Garden Village by providing the latest information about events, activities and key milestones.
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