Stratford MP Nadhim Zahawi has welcomed an announcement made by the Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell, on 2nd January that £3 million is to be given to Stratford District Council this financial year to help deliver a new Garden Village in Long Marston.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) received a total of fifty-one bids from Councils for the funding, and Stratford District Council (SDC) was one of fourteen successful bidders.

In a letter to Mr Zahawi, Mr Barwell said:

“Long Marston is one of fourteen Garden Villages selected from a total of fifty-one bids we received in response to our prospectus published in March inviting localities to come forward with strong locally-led garden village proposals of between 1,500 and 10,000 homes. These proposals, including the one in your constituency, stood out as the strongest against the criteria we had set, including the likelihood of timely progress and accelerated delivery; viability and local demand; and the strength of quality, innovation and design in the proposal”.

Commenting on SDC’s successful bid, Mr Zahawi said:

“I want to pay tribute to those who put together the bid, as it is clear from Gavin Barwell’s letter to me that the superior quality of Long Marston’s locally-led proposal was perhaps the defining reason for the funding being allocated to SDC. The DCLG will now support SDC in its efforts to develop the new Garden Village in a sustainable manner, particular with regards to ensuring that a strong infrastructure is put in place to make this new community an attractive place to live”.

In addition to this, it was announced on the same day that SDC is to receive £215,409 from the Community Housing Fund, a scheme that was announced in last year’s Budget. This fund is designed to support communities affected by high levels of second home ownership that crowd out first time buyers.