South of Ashford Garden Community

South of Ashford Garden Community, Sara Mulvanny, Ashford Borough Council. Ashford Borough Council commissioned Vincent Design to create a logo and identity for the SAGC. They reached out to illustrator Sara Mulvanny to produce a bespoke piece of art which could help tell the story of this emerging place. Over the course of five months, several local people were asked to help shape this drawing. Their input drove multiple revisions to the drawing until the final that you see here was agreed.

Case study conducted with

Ashford Borough Council with Dan Daley

Project Type

Housing-led urban extension

Duration

2014, ongoing

Co-design Methodology

Co-creation, Co-production

Client

Ashford Borough Council

Project Scale / Size

6,000,000 sqm

RIBA Plan of Work

Stage 0-1

Location

Ashford

Project Overview

This case study focuses on the South Ashford Garden Community (SAGC) project, a housing-led urban extension encompassing three former greenfield sites, where a mix of landowners and development partners are working with local communities to retroactively shape a holistic vision and strategy for a new community south of Ashford in Kent. It reflects on how principles of co-production and co-design can be integrated in masterplanning at an early stage before physical design, and how community-led stewardship structures can be set up to deliver a high-quality garden community.

Core Project Structures & Activities

1. Design Code & Quality Charter


A charter was co-produced through public consultation and charettes. The charter sets out a benchmark for design quality through 36 commitments across all facets of the development – such as ensuring that every home will receive a fruit tree in its back garden. All of the developers, the Local Authority and the County Council signed their names to this document.


2. Non-profit Stewardship Organisation: Chilmington Management Organisation


The CMO was set up as a socially-minded, community-led organisation that would take a proactive approach to community asset management and long-term development. This is a hybrid model which operates like a traditional land management company but is led by its membership – the residents of Chilmington.


3. Community Stakeholder Group


To ensure that the Delivery & Implementation Board is responding to the concerns of local people, a pre-existing Community Stakeholder Group was asked to meet bi-monthly with the Head of Planning and lead developer. This group, comprising residents in and around rural Chilmington Green, had built a strong understanding of planning matters, having been through significant consultation on previous Local Plans and an earlier policy framework from which the development had emerged.


4. Project team


Known as the Chilmington Project Team, a team of three at Ashford Borough Council were responsible for the programme management and governance at Chilmington, operating the CMO through a service agreement and coordinating the SAGC until the CMO received enough funding to self-operate.


5. Meanwhile projects


An artist-in-residence led a project about local heritage with existing community members around Chilmington. The artist spent two months building relationships, running school workshops and developing a final output which was co-produced by members of the local Repair Café. This contributed to establishing stronger local ties, providing direction for the community development and the branding of the Garden Village.

Key Takeaways

Be visible & accessible

Without the temporary operating premises open, there is little ‘face’ to the Chilmington Management Organisation (CMO), which has required greater effort to maintain communication with residents.

Champion agile project management

An agile approach to project management is needed to facilitate meaningful community involvement. This involved an iterative process (e.g. ‘Sprint’) where cycles of engagement, reflection and production are maintained for different workstreams. This ensures regular contact with the groups and reinforces a productive exchange between project managers, designers and the consulted group.

Define the stewardship model early

The difference between a stewardship body and a land management company was highlighted early on in the process, which helped to shape. The project highlighted the benefits of a socially-minded, community-led organisation that takes a proactive approach to community asset management over a more traditional model which tends to be transactional in its nature.

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