LDA Design
East Cullompton and Culm Garden Village Masterplan
East Cullompton and Culm Garden Village Masterplan
Details:
- Company: LDA Design
- Client: Mid Devon District Council
- Year: 2022 - 2023
- Region: England
- Product: Arc GIS AutoCAD 3D modelling in Rhino Natural capital and ecosystem service mapping and assessment provided by specialist consultant
Service areas:
- Visualisation, 3D modelling and animations
- Environmental and sustainability services
- Planning and urban design services
Introduction
The world is changing fast: the vision for Culm Garden Village sets out how growth can play a huge part in helping the whole town become more self-supporting and resilient in the face of the climate emergency, biodiversity decline and inequality. The plans seek to offer greater choice and opportunity for all in terms of how and where they work, choice of homes, places to learn, healthy living and greater access to a surrounding, enriched Devon landscape. The plans demonstrate how the existing qualities of place should be used to create a strong identity and local economy from the outset.
Challenges
A thriving and resilient natural environment is increasingly recognised as having a critical role to play in the way urban and rural areas are planned, designed and managed. The Dasgupta Review into the economics of biodiversity contains the central message that the economy, our livelihoods and wellbeing all depend on natural capital assets, notably because of the various ecosystem services that they provide. For example: access to open spaces provides opportunities for outdoor recreation and engagement with natural systems which is important both for mental and physical health; nature-based solutions can reduce flooding; trees, green walls and living roofs can contribute to urban cooling, reducing energy demand; creating bigger, better and more joined up habitats is also needed to reverse the decline in the natural world experienced over recent decades.
Solutions
A whole-systems approach was taken to the Culm Garden Village masterplan exploring the interrelationships between climate, environment, cultural identity and economy in a way that understands the area as one living system. A key part of this approach has been integrating a ‘natural capital and ecosystem services’ approach into masterplanning to demonstrate how nature-based solutions can deliver multiple, quantifiable gains. This approach uses data to build an understanding of where the environment is performing well (by providing a range of ecosystems benefits such as carbon storage, biodiversity, and natural flood management), where it is under pressure and where the opportunities are to deliver greatest benefit. We are also modelling projected climate change scenarios which has allowed us to understand future pressures and propose informed interventions in the landscape now. For example, our masterplan is reinforcing habitat connections now which otherwise are predicted to have been lost in 50 years’ time.
Results
The East Cullompton Masterplan SPD aims to unite delivery partners, set the ambition and provide a robust framework to guide change over time to deliver multiple beneficial outcomes. The River Culm becomes the central placemaking and connecting feature of the masterplan connecting both sides of the town in future and helping to rekindle some of the historic qualities of the town. Data and analysis of natural capital has informed decision making about where and how to build and where investment in habitat creation will deliver the greatest benefit. The existing natural capital of the site was mapped using data such as topography, habitat, soil and air quality before iterative modelling of masterplan options quantified the resulting benefits. As an example, the data-led approach has demonstrated how more carbon could be stored in the landscape by minimising disturbance in key areas and creating new wetland and woodlands in optimal locations.