News on Didcot Garden Town

What is a Garden Town?

Didcot was awarded Garden Town status in late 2015, after South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils prepared a bid to the UK government. The success of this bid gives Didcot a unique opportunity to grow in a number of ways and to become a better place to live and work. As well as 15,000 new homes and 20,000 new jobs for Didcot and Science Vale, the Garden Town project teams wants to explore how various innovations, cultural interventions and new infrastructure can improve the town for everyone.  

Why is there a need for change?

Didcot is already a great place to work and live, but it is not without its problems.

The town is divided by the railway line; it is not easy to get from one part of the town to another or to get from Didcot to surrounding towns and villages. As well connectivity problems, many feel that there is not enough choice of types of home, whether you are a young couple starting out, a family of four or an older person looking to downsize. Equally, there is a need for greater job opportunities, and for Didcot to have a more vibrant shopping and leisure offer.

Didcot’s population is expected to grow from its current level of 24,530 to 65,200 by 2031 and with that comes the need to plan for high quality education and health provision in the future.

Where are all the jobs going to be?

There will be 20,000 new jobs in science and supporting roles over the next 15 years and an additional 227 acres is being made available for employment growth to complement the big strategic sites of Milton Park, Culham and Harwell. Being a Garden Town will make Didcot a more attractive place to live and work, creating a further incentive for businesses to locate in and around the town and thereby creating multiple employment opportunities both directly and indirectly right across the town.

How will the Garden town impact on other infrastructure, facilities and services in the town?

We are in conversation with educational establishments, the Clinical Commissioning Group, businesses, landowners, and a wide range of other key community members. We want to listen to as many opinions and viewpoints as possible, by presenting ideas to different groups and opening a dialogue between all interested parties.

With a larger population comes a greater demand on services, from healthcare and transport, to leisure and retail. We therefore need to make sure that the town is prepared to deal with growth, and that growth is delivered in a sustainable way. For example, in terms of transport we will be looking at improving the network of cycle and pedestrian links as well as other modes of transport around and about the town.

It seems to be about housing and infrastructure – where will the green spaces be?

Didcot is surrounded by beautiful countryside and its location south Oxfordshire is part of what makes the town such an attractive place to invest.

In creating a Garden Town, the plan must be to incorporate green space within the town itself, by providing green spaces and natural environments that aren’t only pleasant to look at, but also genuinely useful to local communities. Of course, there are many ways that the project team could approach this, and crucially, we need people to tell us what kind of green spaces they want to see, and how they hope that this could improve their lives.

What will the Garden Town mean for the existing areas of Didcot?

The point of the Garden Town is to make Didcot an even better place for people who live, work and use facilities in the town, accessible to everyone, rich with innovation, and always evolving.

We are asking people what they would like to see change and this could include improvements to the existing streets, open spaces and amenities in Didcot, as well as the development of new business space and homes around the town. Improving connectivity, particularly with sustainable modes of transport, is also a priority and we need to make moving around the town easier.

What will it mean for the villages around Didcot?

We will protect and enhance the character and setting of the historic villages around Didcot. Improved cycle and pedestrian links will connect the village settlements that surround the town. At all times we will ensure these villages are able to maintain their distinctiveness and separation from each other and from Didcot.

We want to maintain a positive dialogue with all the villages included within the Garden Town area of influence. This will help make sure Didcot Garden Town benefits everyone.

How are you planning on dealing with more traffic?

A number of highways changes have already been made or are underway, such as increasing capacity at the Milton Interchange on the A34, the introduction of south facing slip roads at Harwell, and the installation of a direct road between Didcot Station and Harwell science centre. There will be other infrastructure improvements over time to manage traffic flow, but Didcot Garden Town will also be encouraging alternative modes of transport to the car wherever possible.

Who is paying for it – will it raise our council tax?

No, it won’t raise the council tax. The Garden Town project has funding from a number of different sources, including central government and private sector investment. We have to be realistic and the project has to be financially viable. This is why we have a team of expert consultants who will be thoroughly testing the project’s viability from the outset. While we want our vision to be bold, we are taking a constraints led approach to the future of Didcot and aim to develop a robust delivery plan that is costed and deliverable in the long-term.

Who will be making the decisions and how will they be made?

The Didcot Garden Town project is all about listening to the needs of the people of the town and wider area.

The project board, made up of council leaders, will provide organisation, leadership and oversight of the general strategy of the project. Beneath the board is the project steering group to which the consultant team reports. The consultant team is made up of subject experts who each specialise in “work streams” including planning, placemaking, architecture and engineering.

We know that our communities value open and honest communication and we have been told that people want to be actively involved in shaping their town for the future. They want us to deliver the right kind of change in the right place, in a way that is sensitive to the hopes and wishes of local people. This cannot be achieved without the full participation of the people who live in Didcot and we are therefore making sure that we fully engage with the community and local stakeholders from the outset.

What are the timeframes for the Garden Town?

We intend to complete an initial Delivery Plan in spring 2017. Following approval of this by the Councils, some improvements are likely to be able to begin quickly and we are hopeful that initial projects can act as a kick-start for future ideas and projects. However, the overall plan is a long-term one and the extent to which we can make progress will of course depend on securing additional resources from the government, other public organisations and the private sector. Delivery of the agreed priorities will therefore be phased over time, aiming to provide lasting benefits for the town.

Will there be further opportunities to get involved?

This period marks only the beginning of the dialogue – we want local people to be involved in the evolution of the Garden Town over the next 15 years and beyond. We know there is a lot going on in Didcot and we want to work with you all to maximise involvement by local people in the Garden Town project. In addition to hosting drop-in events and talking to the key groups in Didcot, we will also collect important feedback through an interactive website, a key tool that everyone can use to tell us their own vision for Didcot, including the issues and opportunities that they would like the Garden Town project to consider.

We will listen, engage and consult with all parties throughout the project. The formal public consultation period begin following approval by the councils of the Delivery Plan. We are engaging people now and will continue this throughout the formation and eventual delivery of the Garden Town project.