Meeting documents

Councillor Mike Rigby introduced this item which concerned the vision for Taunton as a Garden Town and what was to be achieved. The document "Taunton – the Vision for our Garden Town" was the culmination of many months of work, public and stakeholder engagement, and concluded the important first stage – the agreement of a shared vision for the Garden Town that would guide the actions of the council and many other stakeholders, and can be championed and owned by the whole town. Taunton was designated as a ‘Garden Town’ in early 2017 following a submission to Government. This submission reflected the Council’s commitment to transformational housing growth centred on a number of new garden communities and a regenerated town centre supported by essential infrastructure and an enhanced network of green infrastructure.

The document included:

·       The Vision statement

·       Context – understanding Taunton’s roots and character (townscape, neighbourhoods and landscape)

·       Four themes:

1.     ‘Growing our town greener’ – transforming our open spaces and streets.

2.     ‘Branching out’ – moving cleaning, moving smarter.

3.     ‘Growing quality places to live’ – town centre, new and existing neighbourhoods.

4.     ‘New shoots and blossom’ – a dynamic and prosperous community founded on knowledge, culture and business.

·       Next steps

This vision framework was just the start of work on Taunton Garden Town (TGT), but would influence all plan-making (e.g. the emerging Local Plan) and development management decisions (such as more detailed design guidance emerging through a new Urban Development Framework and Design Guide). There were no prescriptive guidelines set out by central Government, and each place was expected to be different and determine what the Garden Town status might mean based on local circumstances and characteristics. This document therefore began to explore and articulate the types of physical change and improvements Taunton might look forward to. The particular themes extended from the vision identified tangible opportunities and challenges that needed to be grasped or overcome. Formal adoption of this vision would enable the next stage to progress – the development of a Delivery Plan that will provide detail to the individual strategies, projects and activities which will deliver the vision.

The Portfolio Holder formally proposed the recommendations which were seconded by Councillor Wren.

During the discussion of this item, Members made comments and asked questions which included:-

·       The document was praised but it was hoped that in the delivery of this the principles would be captured to be applied right across the locality.

·       It was commented that the security of the Park and Ride service was important and permanent control of this now required. The Park and Ride Service was used by those outside of the Town and in the rest of the district.

·       It was felt more work was needed to improve Station Road and make it more exciting.

·       The walkways out to the Quantock were important. The Country Park at Monkton Heathfield had three hundred active volunteers with two thousand trees planted.

·       It was hoped that more cycling racks could be provided near Schools in the Town.

·       It was commented that the bus service and train services needed to be improved, with the Park and Ride going past the station.

RESOLVED to formally adopt the Taunton Garden Town Vision document as Council policy, from which a detailed Delivery Plan can be subsequently developed.