Posted on: 6 July 2026
Tewkesbury Borough Council has confirmed plans to establish a company, fully owned by the council – marking the first formal step towards creating a locally led development corporation that will give the council the ability to shape and guide development across the Tewkesbury Garden Communities programme.
The programme promotes comprehensively planned, connected communities, aiming to create an environment with better jobs, workplaces, and housing choices.
The new company will act as an interim delivery body strengthening the programme’s role in shaping how development is planned and delivered. It will support a coordinated approach to growth, helping to ensure that new communities are designed with high quality, sustainability, and a strong sense of place.
This move follows significant support from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which awarded £805,000 in 2025 to support the programme and create this company to lead this work.
Creating a dedicated delivery body has been shown to work well in other areas. It helps councils keep strategic control of development, set clear design standards, and make sure that environmental and community priorities are built in from the start – while also supporting new homes, jobs, and infrastructure.
Cllr Richard Stanley, Leader of Tewkesbury Borough Council, said: “Our ambition is to plan and shape this area into a Garden Community, not leave it to speculative building that will lack the coordinated infrastructure people need. This company will help us take a leading role in how the garden communities area develops – protecting what makes our borough special, while delivering high standards of design, sustainability and economic opportunity.”
With a schedule to establish the company in the autumn, it will focus on:
- Appointing a board with a range of skills to support high-quality design, sustainability, innovation and job creation.
- Working with partners, including Gloucestershire County Council, landowners and local communities, to develop proposals for the development corporation.
- Developing a clear plan for delivering the new employment opportunities.
