Community Growth Area – growing the green network
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Scotland has some of the best planning policy in Europe and the Cumbernauld Living Landscape wants to ensure it is delivered in the town's Community Growth Areas (CGAs). Cumbernauld is expanding and with this change comes the opportunity to put policy into practice to ensure sustainable growth.
In the coming years an area to the south of one of Scotland’s most iconic new towns will see the development of two large housing developments. These Community Growth Areas will provide new homes and have the potential to grow and support existing communities. Over time there will be the phased development of up to 2,000 new homes across the Mid Forest and Palacerigg sites. With this large scale change there are opportunities to learn lessons from the past and create Scotland’s best new development.
Proposed by North Lanarkshire Council in the 2009 Local Plan the South Cumbernauld CGA is a location for large scale urban expansion. The vision of the CGA is that it should create a high quality place that provides for community needs and is economically and environmentally sustainable. This should create a place that improves health and wellbeing and encourages community cohesion. To achieve the vision the connections within and to the sites are crucial and the Cumbernauld Living Landscape has proposed Green Network Guidance to achieve this.
Creating a high quality multi scale Green Network within the CGA’s will be crucial to their future success. Both of the sites are adjacent to sensitive wildlife areas and three Scottish Wildlife Trust reserves. With considerate development these areas can be protected and enhanced by a strong network of trees and greenspaces within the CGAs. The connections for local communities are equally important. Paths that link the new developments to schools and facilities in Abronhill and Carbrain will benefit both new and existing communities. The Green Network Guidance published here puts forwards the principles and specific recommendations for how this can be achieved.
The guidelines are the Living Landscape partnerships vision for how the Green Network can be integrated into the CGA to fulfil its potential. They were created with the support of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, North Lanarkshire Council, Forestry Commission Scotland, Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green Network and Scottish Natural Heritage. If you support our vision please contact Ian Mackenzie (imackenzie@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk) to find out how you can contribute to making this a reality.