Carlisle City Council has appointed Arup to lead on the next phase of masterplanning for the St Cuthbert’s Garden Village project in Carlisle, a unique and transformational cluster of new villages to the south of the city.
Arup will bring its unique set of multidisciplinary skills, which includes urban design, planning and transport to the St Cuthbert’s Garden Village project, the largest in the Government’s current Garden Village programme.
St Cuthbert’s will deliver approximately 10,000 new homes including a significant provision of affordable housing, improvements to infrastructure and services, including new schools, public transport and access to the countryside and green spaces that will serve and be enjoyed by not just future residents, but by existing residents of the City and the St Cuthbert’s area.
The project will also complement plans to deliver the Carlisle Southern Link Road (CSLR) – a strategic link road connecting junction 42 of the M6 with the A595 CNDR. Which has, in addition to £300,000 from the Garden Communities Programme, been allocated £102 million from the government Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF). Cumbria County Council worked with Carlisle City Council and Homes England to develop the bid.
Arup will be supported by Hive Land and Planning, who will provide strategic advice. Arup and Hive will bring together and build upon the comprehensive work already undertaken by Carlisle City Council, its partners and consultants to deliver the Stage 2 Framework Masterplan. The emerging work will continue to be subject to, and build on, a strong momentum of community and stakeholder engagement.
Leader of Carlisle City Council, Cllr Colin Glover, said: “The masterplanning appointment is another important step forward for our ambitious plans for Carlisle and the Borderlands region. We are a growing city and as part of the garden village proposal, we aim to create increased high-quality housing and employment opportunities, together with new community facilities. We want to positively plan for the continued sustainable growth of the city adding to Carlisle’s offer as a place to live and will diversify the city’s overall housing offer.”
Kathryn Donnelly, Project Manager, Arup, added: “This landmark project comes at a time when UK faces major challenges in building houses, St Cuthbert’s Garden Village will create significant growth for the Borderlands region by providing high quality homes and vital transport links for local people. We can’t wait to start work with Carlisle City Council and its partners to support the delivery of this truly transformational project.”