St Cuthbert’s Garden Village SPD

Hyas was appointed to prepare the SPD (having supported the Council since 2017 on the St Cuthbert’s project) and worked with the Council to outline what the SPD needed to achieve, including:

• Providing additional details of strategic requirements, that need to be in place to support a comprehensive, high quality new community.
• Presenting a framework to guide the preparation and determination of future planning applications, ensuring that they are of the highest quality and in keeping with the Vision and principles for St Cuthbert’s.

The creation of the Strategic Design SPD helps the Council to positively engage with prospective developers within the garden village, ahead of the proposed adoption of the St Cuthbert’s DPD. Promoting a positive planning process built on collaboration, the SPD establishes the Council’s expectations for site specific masterplanning and design quality, informing the approach to and content of future planning applications and subsequently approved development. The SPD promotes an approach to comprehensive place making, by defining the key structuring and place making elements necessary to underpin good design and delivery – providing a clear basis on which to develop detailed proposals in a coordinated way.

To promote the timely delivery of development and meet housing need, it was necessary to prepare the SPD in a relatively short timescale, whilst at the same time seeking to ensure a strong level of engagement.

“Hyas Associates have proved invaluable in providing additional capacity to help us promote various aspects of St Cuthbert’s Garden Village through the planning process.  Hyas offer a unique perspective into garden villages and have always provided us with sound, pragmatic and insightful advice.  The quality of work is excellent which most recently includes the St Cuthbert’s Garden Village Strategic Design SPD delivered on time and on budget.” – Neil Cole, Head of Planning Policy at Carlisle City Council

 The project was commended at the RTPI North West Excellence in Plan Making award:

“The judges were very impressed with the overall, vision and aspiration for this project and a commitment by the City Council to deliver something that would, when delivered, be truly transformational for not only for the city, but for the wider region and the borderlands. The work was clearly the product of many years of extensive work, that integrated the project at every level of planning policy culminating with the excellent SPD that has recently been adopted. The work was well written, researched and well supported by technical survey and community engagement – the latter being praised for its innovative methods. Overall a fantastic example of long term, robust policy making.”