Broadnook: Urban designer reveals what it means to be Leicestershire’s first Garden Village

Construction has started on residential homes at Broadnook Garden Village, with the first homebuyers expected to be welcomed in autumn of this year. But what exactly is a Garden Village? We spoke with Dr Stefan Kruczkowski, who works with Davidsons Homes’ Urban Design Team, to find out what sets the new development apart.

Dr Stefan explains: “What makes Broadnook Garden Village unique to Leicestershire and Charnwood is that it takes cues from its surroundings. You’ve got a fantastic new park with the existing woodland of Broadnook Spinney threading through it – it’s beautiful and right at the heart of the development here at Broadnook.

“You also have house developers such as Davidsons that have taken inspiration from places all over Charnwood – areas like Town Green Street and The Ridings in Rothley. When the local centre is developed over the coming years, the vision of a Leicestershire-inspired high street will come to life. All this means Broadnook Garden Village will have a distinctly Charnwood feel, a distinctly Leicestershire feel.”

It’s the commitment to staying in tune with nature that is a step away from the way many modern developments are built. Dr Stefan continues:

“A massive 50 per cent of Broadnook will be dedicated to green and open spaces. That means great new parks, integration of existing woodland, like Broadnook Spinney alongside untouched areas left to nature, so you will be living in fantastic, beautiful surroundings.”

This commitment to 50 per cent of green space bucks the trend of the previous decade of housing across England and Wales, offering as much as five times the national average of green space provision compared to new builds during the 2010s.*

Dr Stefan continues: “There will be to be plenty of opportunities to stay healthy and active for children and adults alike. We’re creating safe walking, cycling and scoot routes. This means parents can walk or cycle their children to the local school.

“Residents can jump on their bike and cycle along the car-free Central Walk boulevard, enjoy a coffee in Broadnook Court, before nipping into Broadnook Stores for a pint of milk and a loaf of bread. The more residents choose to walk and cycle the better, they’ll breathe even cleaner air and save money! It’s going to be a great place to call home.”
As part of the agreement with the local council, the developers of Broadnook Garden Village will invest £32 million into improving and enhancing local community facilities. This includes thousands of pounds for improving bus routes, the opportunity for a new GP office, shops, community facilities like a library, multi-purpose spaces and sports fields, and an enormous £17 million set aside for creating a new primary school and investing in existing school facilities in Charnwood.

Dr Stefan continues: “Here at Broadnook you’ll be able to choose from a range of fantastic homes and you’re also going to have a wealth of facilities on your doorstep.
“There will be shops, places to meet your friends, coffee shops, a community library, cricket and football pitches, there’s going to be a huge, massive park. And that’s part of what is going to make Broadnook a village; a thriving community.”

Learning from the past, Broadnook takes a lot of inspiration from Rothley Garden Suburb, a historic brochure for a new suburb over 100 years ago.

“Back in 1909 there were ideas for Rothley Garden Suburb, just down the road from here, and it’s taken 115 years to bring those ideas finally to life.
“The idea goes back to the turn of the last century, and it was all about mixing the best of the town with the best of the country. We all love little picturesque villages, but sometimes they don’t have those day-to-day facilities that we all want.
“So, back in 1898, a man called Ebenezer Howard dreamed the idea that you could blend both town and country. With the range of wonderful facilities to be built in the coming years, that’s what you’re going to get right here just outside Rothley at Broadnook Garden Village.”

To find out more about Broadnook Garden Village, get the latest news and updates and register your interest for the range of new houses from Davidsons Homes and Cora Homes, visit broadnook.co.uk

Follow @BroadnookGardenVillage on Instagram and Facebook.

*Comparison based on data in a 2022 report by New Economics Foundation think tank. Plans for Broadnook Garden Village comprises more than 50% of land designated to public access green and open space, including parkland and open spaces, priorities for nature conservation and biodiversity, woodland and wetland, playing fields, allotments, walkways and cycleways, a “Central Walk” based on New Walk in Leicester, and pleasant links to the countryside and Charnwood Forest. This is compared the England and Wales national average of 10% for homes built between 2009-2021, as per figure 1 here: https://neweconomics.org/2022/05/exposed-the-collapse-of-green-space-provision-in-england-and-wales