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Reflecting on our May events

Thank you for joining two events in the past week.  Here's what we covered!

Our connection with the Canterbury community is just beginning. It’s your community, not ours.  We’re here to listen, support and work with you. In addition to the informal conversations and individual meetings we are involved in every week, we also run some group events focused on specific areas.

Two of these have taken place in the past week.

Friday 23rd May – Community Walk

We were blessed with glorious weather for our fully booked walk, starting from the Old Gate Inn. Thank you, Chris, for hosting!

Thanks also to Nick and Chris from our South Canterbury team, who led the group around key parts of the site.

During the walk, we discussed the key contributions we will be making to the city through the Section 106 agreement (signed two years ago), including investment in transport, education, health, sport, green spaces and more.

There was particular interest in:

- Sustainable transport links—especially the three new cycling routes connecting South Canterbury to the city and significant investment in bus services
- Community gardens, allotments and parks—something we’re particularly proud to be delivering

We’ve suggested a dedicated workshop to explore these green spaces in more detail and an opportunity to hear more of your thoughts.

Tuesday 27th May – Coffee and Conversations

We met at the Friends’ Meeting House—thank you to the Canterbury Bakery for the delicious cakes!

It was fantastic to welcome some new faces, along with local council members. These conversations work best when we are in it together.

This session featured three themed discussions:

Masterplanning

We explained how it's possible to pull-togther the countless elements involved into a single, integrated plan.  This included the Context Study which will inform our design code.  The Via Francigena was a focus of conversation—understandably, local people are keen to ensure it is celebrated and handled sensitively. This reflects wider discussions across the city, and we’ll be holding specific workshops to explore it further.

Landscape architecture

Our landscape-led approach was well received, supported by a wide range of visuals. There were helpful questions about the design of community gardens and how estate management will work. Local people are rightly concerned that spaces are designed to be attractive, practical and low-maintenance in the longer-term.

Affordable housing

On affordable housing, there was strong interest in a range of tenures, including co-operative housing, and in understanding how we work with registered providers—particularly around how homes are allocated and managed.

This was just one of many community gatherings — please keep an eye on the Events page for details of our next session, a summer drop-in with Alice.