Plans outlined for 3,000 homes in two new ‘garden communities’
Plans are progressing for two new garden communities in Calderdale which would have the capacity to provide around 3,000 new homes.
Woodhouse Garden Community in Rastrick and Thornhills Garden Community in Brighouse are a major part of delivering the Local Plan for the district which was adopted in March 2023.
As well as the homes, they would also provide two primary schools, public green spaces, cycle tracks and other community facilities.
People will soon be asked to give their feedback on documents setting out how the garden communities should be designed. These documents would feed into the planning application process for each site.
At a meeting on Monday 7 August 2023, Calderdale Council Cabinet members will be asked to approve a four-week public consultation on the Garden Communities Masterplan Supplementary Planning Documents and the Design Code Supplementary Planning Documents for both Woodhouse and Thornhills.
Once developed, the garden communities will provide a significant proportion of the Local’s Plan’s overall housing requirement for Calderdale.
The homes on each site will include a mix of one to four-bedroom properties, affordable homes and adaptable and accessible features to support age- and disabled-friendly communities.
Councillor Jane Scullion
Facilities at Woodhouse will include a grocery store, café and community hall, and at Thornhills there will be a farm shop and café, community hall and nursery.
Councillor Jane Scullion, Calderdale Council’s Leader, said: “A phenomenal amount of hard work has gone into drafting these Supplementary Planning Documents, in partnership with local landowners and developers.
“They do a great job of setting out how our garden communities need to be designed and built to achieve the council’s priorities for thriving towns and places, reduced inequalities and climate action.”
Construction work on both sites will take place in phases over a number of years, with an expected start date of 2024 and estimated completion in 2034 for Woodhouse and 2039 for Thornhills.
