15 May 2020
Inspector concludes Braintree Garden Communities unsound
Inspector Roger Clews has ruled that if “unsound” proposals for new settlements on the Colchester and Braintree borders and the West of Braintree garden community are removed, the North Essex Authorities Strategic Section 1 Plan is “capable of being made sound”.
He highlights that the viability appraisal found that “with an appropriate 40 per cent contingency allowance on transport and utilities infrastructure, the proposed Colchester/Braintree borders garden community would not achieve a viable land price”, and that the proposed West of Braintree garden community is below – or at best is at the very margin of – financial viability, contrary to advice in the PPG. On this basis, he says, “neither garden community is deliverable”.
