OUR COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Our pioneering youth engagement programme
The homes and spaces that will be created at the Garden Community are not only for people who are in housing need right now. They will be used by generations long into the future.
That's why Latimer are taking a pioneering approach to giving young people in Tendring district and Colchester a key voice in shaping the design of the Garden Community.
Our team are undertaking a unique youth engagement programme as we develop our designs. So critical is this to us that it began before we appointed our professional design and architecture team!
Led by youth engagement specialists MATT+FIONA, our activities have included a wide range of programmes and events to help us take inspiration from the ideas of local young people.
Our professional design team will build aspects of our young designers' ideas into the emerging plans for the Garden Community.
The Essex Young Designers
In March 2023, we established a youth forum made up of 13 young people, aged 13 to 17, from Tendring district and Colchester. The group have taken the decision to call themselves the 'Essex Young Designers'.
They meet regularly to take part in workshops delivered by MATT+FIONA and our professional design team to inform the brief and design for the Garden Community. The Designers represent a broad range of existing communities and attend different local schools and colleges.
Key achievements of the Essex Young Designers to date include:
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Developing a keen understanding of the design principles behind the Garden Community and meaningfully feeding back to the design team on their work
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Traveling to the global EcoCity Summit in London to present their work and collaborate with professional placemakers.
School design challenge
In spring and early summer 2023, we held a schools design challenge. We invited local schools to design spaces they would like to see in the Garden Community in response to the design team’s emerging vision. MATT+FIONA held workshops for primary and secondary school students and provided materials for them to design and make small scale models to illustrate their vision for the Garden Community. Their work was exhibited at One Colchester Community Hub in Colchester City Centre and Brightlingsea Library.
The following schools took part in the challenge:
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Brightlingsea Primary School
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St Lawrence CofE Primary School, Rowhedge
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Willowbrook Primary School, Colchester
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Paxman Academy, Colchester
Summer studio and family day
During the 2023 school summer holidays we held a series of free architecture workshops for local 11 to 14 year-olds. The events took place at Firstsite in Colchester over three days with 17 young people taking part overall.
The young people were taught more about the Garden Community from expert designers, architects and landscapers and took part in hands-on design and building activities. This included creating ideas for public realm furniture that could be included in a garden next to Firstsite, which is being designed by the team from Beth Chatto Gardens in Elmstead Market.
The summer studio culminated in a creative family day when over 100 people, adults and children, were able to add their ideas to the model of the Garden Community.
Engagement with Young People
Prior to the submission of Latimer's application, the Essex Young Designers worked with our professional design team to shape the plans.
Their input has been fed into the application, and we look forward to continuing to work with and inspire the younger and future generations when we move into the next phases of the project.
The application Design Codes include expectations that future planning applications will include engagement with community groups. Early opportunities for further collaboration include a 'meanwhile' story telling pavilion that has been proposed as part of the early works on site.
Wider resident consultation
Roadshow 1
Autumn 2023
11 in person events
370+ comments received
Roadshow 2
Winter 2023
10 in person events
260+ comments received
Roadshow 3
Winter 2024
6 in person events
370+ comments received
Roadshow 4
Spring 2025
4 in person events
Preview of application materials
Ahead of submission, the project team conducted an extensive community engagement programme over more than a 3 year period, to enable local communities to shape and inform the design of the new Garden Community. At the heart of our approach was a commitment to an exemplary community engagement programme that we believe set a new precedent for how communities are engaged and work collaboratively to shape new neighbourhoods.
Residents, stakeholders, community groups and individuals in the surrounding neighbourhoods and the wider area were given the opportunity to learn more about our proposals, and invite them to help shape them
Our activities include:
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Three phases of well-advertised ‘roadshow’ public consultation drop-in events as the plans develop, beginning in Autumn 2023
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A fourth roadshow to exhibit the proposals in Autumn 2025 ahead of the planning submission
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Presence at a wide range of community events across Tendring district and Colchester
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Continued and regular communication with councillors, elected representatives and community organisations and groups.
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Engagement with local civic, cultural and business groups, charities and the voluntary sector.
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Continued youth engagement programme through Summer Schools, youth workshops and Family Design Days.
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Opportunities to view plans and feedback online via a dedicated project website and regular updates through our social media and mailing list channels.
Wider Social Value
Latimer has been recognised as the UK’s most sustainable not-for-profit housebuilder, achieving the prestigious Gold Award from the NextGeneration Benchmark for the second consecutive year. Excellence in Socio-Economic Development was key to this achievement and it reflects Latimer’s commitment to delivering homes and communities that enhance socio-economic outcomes for residents.
Throughout the development of the proposals for the Garden Community, Latimer have been committed to social impact and have committed to a total contribution of £246,022 to the community, representing a social value contribution well in excess of this. This has included donations to the following organisations: 4 Youth Brightlingsea, The Autumn Centre, Robin Cancer Trust, Beth Chatto Gardens, Pride of Tendring, RAMA (Refugee, Asylum seeker and Migrant Action, formerly Refugee Action Colchester), SUMMIT Homeless Prevention and Health Advocacy; Tendring Community Transport; and Greenstead Community Supermarket. Latimer’s work has also included running bespoke local training events, particularly focused on younger people and NEETs, also offering career support and advice, as well as contributions to other Social Impact projects across Colchester and Tendring.
Clarion Futures
Clarion Futures is the charitable arm of Clarion Housing Group and focuses on funding community projects and helping people find jobs and training, develop digital skills, and manage their money. They provide people with the tools and support to help overcome challenges and fulfil their potential.
For the Garden Community, Clarion Futures have already committed to a total financial contribution of £88,750 to the local community, which has included:
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Providing a number of Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) courses in Clacton and Greenstead Library – Greenstead is one of the most deprived areas of Colchester, and so Clarion Futures were conscious of the importance of targeting support here. In 23/24, Clarion Futures trained 92 people on courses from Colchester & Tendring. In 24/25, Clarion Futures trained a further 32 people from Colchester and Tendring.
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•Supporting 16 young people from Colchester and Tendring in completing Functional Skills programmes in Maths and English, supporting Multiply Projects Colchester Tendring, and the approved spend for the determination period.
Clarion Future’s ongoing role on TCBGC is to provide:
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Employment & Training: Helping people into work through apprenticeships, training and business start-ups.
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Partnership Working: Collaborating with public and private sector partners to deliver social value, expand services and improve life chances
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Community Investment: Funding and supporting local projects, community centres and social action initiatives for new residents of the community.
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Digital Inclusion: Providing digital skills training, access to devices and connectivity and support through initiatives like the Digital Device Loan Scheme and Digital Champion network.
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Stewardship Body: the role of this body is to oversee the long-term governance, management and activation of community assets which Clarion Futures will have a strong involvement in from the start.
The Engagement team
Community engagement lead
Design team interface and local engagement
Social value
Key stakeholder engagement
Youth engagement