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On 2nd January 2017, the Government announced plans for a number of new Garden Villages and Towns across the country, including Culm Garden Village.

The long term plan for the Garden Village is to deliver up to 5,000 sustainable new homes, as well as employment, shops, schools, healthcare facilities and leisure opportunities including the potential for new sports facilities and a country park.  The development will help to improve connections to the M5 motorway and will provide benefits in terms of natural flood management.  There is an ongoing project to re-open Cullompton railway station and plans to improve bus transport.

Part of the garden village is allocated for development under the Mid Devon Local Plan (1,750 houses to 2033, and at least 850 after that). However, the wider ambition is to create a new community of up to 5,000 houses and the remainder of the land will need to be allocated through a later development plan such as the next Mid Devon Local Plan.

The garden village project is locally-led. The project is supported by Cullompton Town Council and a lot of work has already been done with community groups in thinking about the new community and its relationship to Cullompton and Kentisbeare.

A stage 1 public consultation took place in 2019 on a Vision for the garden village and some initial ideas for the East Cullompton allocation masterplan supplementary planning document (SPD).  See the Masterplanning page for more information.

Following feedback on the stage 1 documents and ongoing technical work and stakeholder engagement, a draft East Cullompton Masterplan SPD went out for Stage 2 public consultation in Autumn 2022.

The SPD was revised following the public consultation and was approved by Mid Devon's Cabinet in February 2023 and adopted by Full Council on 26 April 2023.  See the Masterplanning page for more information.  

The next stage for East Cullompton is to prepare a Phasing and Delivery Strategy to identify clarify infrastructure requirements to be delivered in step with development, and to produce a Strategic Design Code to set out how the place should be designed to meet the aspirations in the Masterplan SPD.

As the aspiration through Culm's garden village status is for a wider development of up to 5,000 houses, the remainder of the garden village will need to be allocated and if this progresses, it is expected that this will be allocated through a future Mid Devon Local Plan.