Places for People has announced planning approval for over 660 hectares of green space for the Gilston area of the Garden Town.
With 10,000 Garden Town homes coming forward across seven villages in Gilston, the green space allocation will include 15km of heritage trails alongside local art and wayfinding plus over 410 hectares dedicated to play, rest, wellbeing, allotments and orchards.
And as part of the masterplanning process, Places for People are also creating multifunctional green spaces, enhancing biodiversity and making the community climate resilient through enriched grassland, meadows and wetlands.
Following five years of community consultation, a stewardship model will be introduced to ensure all local infrastructure will last the test of time.
Places for People has also committed to sustainable transport, enabling local communities to make greener transport choices and prioritise their health and wellbeing with over 48km of cycling networks and footpaths.
The network of interconnected villages, six of which are being delivered by Places for People with the seventh via Taylor Wimpey, will be centred around a community focal point of education, leisure, retail and cultural facilities.
Speaking about the green space and landscape led approach at Gilston, Sammie Steele, Regional Director for Greater London at Places for People, commented: “Houses alone don’t build a sustainable and healthy community, nor does simply providing the infrastructure.
“A thriving, healthy community is built on the connections people make when they engage with their local natural habitats. Gilston is not an easy development to deliver, but through collaboration with HGGT and East Herts District Council, we set out our vision to create something different, something that would act as a beacon of community housebuilding done right.
“Through our extensive research, we know how important it is for people to have the infrastructure they need before considering buying a new home, and we also know how vital it is that people are encouraged and supported to make use of their natural spaces and green transport opportunities.
“We’ve taken decades of experience and learning to bring forward a place that has nature at its core, building beauty that’s resilient to the future climate while respecting and enhancing the land we’ve promised to protect.
“Developers have a massive role to play in safeguarding the health of our nation, and we know that schemes like Gilston, which promote a healthy and sustainable lifestyle through that close contact to nature, will be the ones that succeed the test of time.”
