We support the Council's decision to take forward the NPPF's suggested approach that large urban extensions should follow the principles of garden cities and garden suburbs. Many of the garden city principles accord with our own ambitions for the kind of development we wish to see brought forward on land north of Gallows Hill/west of Europa Way. In fact in the interest of providing a high quality environment for its residents and engendering a sense of community, we are consulting with Bournville Village Trust over masterplanning considerations and long term stewardship of the site, and are keen to work with the local community and stakeholders to bring this exiting development opportunity forward.

The government has indicated that there will be consultation later this year about how local authorities and developers might apply garden city principles to new developments. It will be interesting to see what comes forward as part of this consultation and how the Council's own prospectus compares with this.

We acknowledge reference to the use of 'design codes' to also support the garden city initiative. It would, however, be helpful if the Council explained how it sees design codes being developed and brought forward. Is this something the Council will be undertaking itself so that there is a common approach to different types of development/ locations across the District, or is the Council looking for developers to prepare design codes themselves or in partnership? Furthermore, how is the design coding intended to link with requirement for Development Briefs as called for under Policy PO4? If the developer is expected to prepare design codes as an integral part of the development brief, then we feel that those promoting Phase 1 sites could be unfairly burdened with undertaking work which would likely be taken forward and applied by developers of the strategic site allocations phased later in the plan period.