A MAJOR development which would see 10,325 homes built south of Carlisle over the next 30 years has taken important steps forward in recent weeks.

Carlisle City Council's executive met on Monday, agreeing a work programme for advancing the St Cuthbert's Garden Village project.

The expansion will create new communities in Carlisle and boost the city's economy.

Steps outlined in the work programme for the dedicated project team to take the work forward include agreeing Cumbria County Council and Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership's role in the project. They will also engage with landowners, manage assets and holdings, and in the legacy phase, appoint stewards for land and parks.

The council's executive also delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Economic Development to progress procurement.

Economy, Enterprise and Housing Portfolio Holder, councillor Paul Nedved presented the report to the executive.

He said: "Can I thank the lead of planning policy and the St Cuthbert's Garden Village team for their report and extensive work throughout."

It comes just one week after a successful consultation event at Carlisle Racecourse which updated the public about work on the St Cuthbert's Garden Village project as well as the Carlisle Southern Link Road which will connect the M6 to Newby West and provide the catalyst to its delivery.

Cllr Nedved said: "The exhibition we had at the racecourse was extremely attended, we got a lot of extremely good feedback as well from that.

"The city council has prided itself in community engagement and consultations, that's part of the process."

Councillor Nigel Christian, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport seconded Cllr Nedved's motion. He said: "I think this is a very important move forward in our area.

"It's really important to us this is as near as possible to a zero carbon development. It will draw HGVs out of Carlisle as well which will help enormously."

The event at Carlisle Racecourse gave the public an opportunity to view and comment on three potential designs for the garden village's greenway and park - the community's centre piece.

Designers were asked to submit their vision for the area in a two-stage competition. The three designs shortlisted in the competition were The Greenway Ribbon by Gillespies, St Cuthbert’s Monastic Gardens by AFL Architects and The Weave by BMD and JTP.

The city council want to consult with the public at every step of the development and as such there is still time to comment on the designs.

Visit: https://competitions.landscapeinstitute.org/st-cuthberts to have your say.