Communities secretary Eric Pickles has unveiled a consultation on a new development corporation to boost the garden city concept at Ebbsfleet in Kent.
Today’s consultation invites views on the geographical area in which the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation will operate, the planning powers it will be granted and the composition of its board.
The corporation would help local authorities to drive forward development and co-ordinate investment. It is proposed that it would also act as the local planning authority by determining planning applications and would work with local councils to deliver affordable housing in line with local plans.
Pickles has also announced the appointment of Michael Cassidy as chairman designate of the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. Cassidy is chairman of the City of London Property Investment Board.
The area around Ebbsfleet has long been identified as an ideal location for large-scale development. Yet progress has stalled for decades. Earlier this year, chancellor George Osborne announced that the government would back a 15,000-home garden city at Ebbsfleet. It came after government ministers, three Kent councils and Land Securities agreed a plan for around 22,600 new homes on the Kent Thameside site in 2012.
annabel.dixon@estatesgazette.com
