Plan for out of town (food and other) shopping in the Tewkesbury area

@James Nicholson-Smith I agree; unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to what is contemplated by TBC’s new vision for Garden Communities with homes spread across an area of land running from close to the M5 in the west, Natton in the Southwest, Seven Bends in the Southeast, extending to the North of Northway; an area of land covering appropriately 3.5 sq miles (with an 8.5 mile perimeter). Contrast that with the following description of what is being built in Cambridge for a population of perhaps half that envisaged by TBC. Eddington is the first phase of the North West Cambridge Development, which is being undertaken by the University of Cambridge. The development will ultimately provide 1,500 homes for university and college staff, 1,500 private homes for sale and accommodation for 2,000 postgraduates. Community amenities include a primary school, a nursery, a health centre, a community centre and performing arts space, 100,000 square metres of academic and research and development space, a supermarket, a hotel, a senior living home, sports pitches, retail units, public green spaces, roads and transport routes, sustainable transport provision, an energy centre and district heating network. Outline planning consent was granted in 2013 and construction began that year. The University of Cambridge Primary School opened in 2015 and residents moved into the development in 2017. The community centre and performing arts space opened in 2018. Some of the development’s innovative projects include its waste management and water collection systems. Underground chutes replace traditional wheelie bins in an innovative waste disposal system and the development has the UK’s largest site-wide water recycling system. Solar panels are used extensively in the development. The development has won numerous awards for masterplanning, planning, design, construction and sustainability. https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8354/documents/85292/default/ https://eddington-cambridge.co.uk. Google maps Street View provides additional insight CB3 1SE In greater detail: The proposals seek outline planning permission, in their totality, for the following development, with details of appearance, landscaping, layout, and scale (save for the matters submitted in respect of zones A and C) reserved: • Up to 3,000 dwellings;(ClassC3 and C4) • Up to 2,000 student bed spaces; 98,000 sq.m.(Class C2) • Up to 100,000 sq.m. new employment floor space, of which: • Up to 40,000 sq.m. commercial employment floorspace (Class B1(b) and sui generis research uses) • At least 60,000 sq.m. academic employment floorspace(ClassD1) • Up to 5,300 sq.m. gross retail floorspace (Use Class A1/A2/A3/A4/A5) (of which the supermarket is not more than 2,000 sq.m. net floorspace) • Senior living; up to 6,500sq.m. (Class C2) • Community centre; up to 500-600 sq.m. (Class D1) • Indoor sports provision, up to 450 sq.m.(ClassD1) • Police; up to 200 sq.m. (Class B1) • Primary Health Care; up to 700sq.m.(ClassD1) • School; up to 3,750sq.m.(ClassD1) • Nurseries; up to 2,000sq.m.(ClassD1) • Community Residential; up to 500 sq.m. (Class C3) • Hotel (130 rooms); up to 7,000 sq.m. (Class C1) • Access roads • Pedestrian, cycle and vehicle routes • Parking • Energy Centre; up to 1,250sq.m. • Provision and/or upgrade of services and related service media and apparatus including pumping stations, substations and pressure regulators • Drainage works (including sustainable ground and surface water attenuation and control) • Open space and landscaping (including parks, play areas, playing fields, allotments, water features, formal/informal open space, maintenance sheds, pavilions and support facilities) https://applications.greatercambridgeplanning.org/online-applications/files/2B8F57871C00055CE47926F9C0EA9307/pdf/S_1886_11-Officer_Committee_Report-4506211.pdf

@Ynte Lammertsma Currently, at least when I last checked, there is one bus a week from Aston Cross to Tewkesbury. If you walk to the bus stop near the railway station there is a much better service. It is unclear who is going to fund a more frequent bus service beyond the railway station, especially one that residents could use for going to and from work. Also, I doubt that many will be happy to be told they should be using public transport for their food shopping. We are now in a state where (give or take) all new homes are provided with 2+ parking spaces / garages, so development roads are no longer cluttered with parked cars. I doubt that it will ever be viable for working age residents, possibly with small children, in rural areas to be totally reliant on public transport.