A Crucial element of BCP Council’s growth strategy
Following extensive public consultation the land owned by The Talbot Village Trust was formally allocated for new development in 2018 in the adopted Poole Local Plan.
The adopted Policy PP21 subdivides the area into three distinct allocations:
- Area TV1 for expansion of the Universities and associated uses, including homes located more than 400m from Talbot Heath – which will come forward separately
- Area TV2 for an Innovation Quarter which could be home to some of the UK’s most exciting and progressive industries, linking with the two Universities, including much needed healthcare provision.
- Area TV3 which identifies 30 acres (12 hectares) of marginal grazing land to provide a Heathland Support Area to protect sensitive habitats on Talbot Heath and deliver a wide range of environmental benefits.
Policy PP21 - Extract from Poole Local Plan 2018
Extract from Talbot Village SPD showing indicative masterplan
The 2015 Talbot Village Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) evolved following a wide range of public and stakeholder engagement during a 6 week consultation between August and September 2015, including a public exhibition on 7 September 2015.
The Talbot Village SPD was subsequently adopted and is a material consideration in the determination of planning applications and an essential part of BCP Council’s growth strategy.
The SPD document sets out how development at Talbot Village will be implemented, delivering a vision for an academic and employment centre of innovation and excellence, associated with a well-managed wildlife haven to the south and south west.
The SPD includes proposals for new academic buildings at both Bournemouth University and the Arts University Bournemouth at TV1. A range of buildings have been, or are being, brought forward by the two Universities on the land at TV1.
This consultation focuses on the land at TV2 together with the potential opportunity to link the local community, TV1 and TV2 through Talbot Way Boulevard and Talbot Place at the southern edge of the TV1 site.
Extract of plan from Policy PP21 with annotations
The Vision
“The key for the Innovation Quarter is to support the two Universities and provide opportunities for young people to live and work in Bournemouth so we can retain talent in the region. By doing this we feel we can help support the local economy and make a huge positive impact for our area. Crucially, we are committed to do this whilst supporting the environment, ensuring that we achieve biodiversity net gain and that the heathland is fully protected.”
Nick Ashley-Cooper, Chairman of Talbot Village Trust
A green, treelined, car free central campus whose boulevard connects the universities, and the local community, to the town and beach. Bringing together the community, academics, students, clinicians, innovators, and entrepreneurs. A new public square as a focal point for meeting, greeting and interacting. A vibrant place to be, to socialise, to work, to play, to eat, drink and be entertained, to be young and grow old. A catalyst to attract digital, environmental, health and creative industries to Bournemouth and Poole.
Forming strong partnerships
The position of the Innovation Quarter adjacent to the two Universities with cycle and walking links to Bournemouth town and the beach, provides a unique opportunity for digital, health and creative industries to flourish. The vision is focused around the major opportunity to grow businesses related to these industries such as computer games manufacturers, mobile technologies, medical technology, cyber security, computer-generated animation, and film studios, clustered close to the universities.
Both Universities have a strong track record in creative industries and Bournemouth University also has a School of Health and Social care. The proposed development will therefore further support the Universities and enable them to form lasting links with innovative businesses, maximising employment and research opportunities.
These strong partnerships will ensure highly skilled graduates stay here in Bournemouth, rather than leave in the search of jobs, with the ensuing benefits felt widely by other local businesses and the wider region.
Working with Nuffield to support local healthcare
The Charity is delighted that it is able to work with Nuffield Health, another charitable organisation in the local area, to bring a new state-of-the-art Nuffield Health Hospital to the Innovation Quarter and community.
The requirement for a new Nuffield Health facility is predominately driven by changing community needs. The existing Nuffield Health Bournemouth Hospital was the first Nuffield Health hospital in the UK. Opened in 1957, the facility now requires modernisation. Additionally, even within its existing restrictive facility, the Nuffield Health Bournemouth hospital team, in conjunction with Bournemouth University, is undertaking leading research that is influencing worldwide medical practice, particularly in joint replacement.
The new Nuffield Health Bournemouth hospital will become known as a destination of clinical excellence and its co-location with Bournemouth University will strengthen links between the two organisations and maximise the collaborative opportunities available. Critically, a new hospital in Bournemouth will increase the capacity to treat patients in Dorset, meeting rising demand and helping to reduce waiting lists.
In addition, the build of the new Nuffield hospital will deliver a £50m investment into the regional construction sector, with partnership opportunities created for local SMEs.
The wider Innovation Quarter uses
The proposals for the wider Innovation Quarter will come forward as an Outline Planning Application meaning it will deal with matters of principle such as the proposed uses, the scale and height of buildings, an indicative layout and access to the site.
The buildings shown within the Innovation Quarter, other than the Nuffield Health Hospital, are therefore indicative and their detailed design will be shaped by future detailed planning applications. Buildings would however reflect the parameters set-out in the Talbot Village SPD and could provide the unique opportunity for digital, health and creative industries to flourish.
Conversations are ongoing with a number of potential occupiers, all of whose uses will be compatible with a location within 400m of Talbot Heath and appropriate in a residential area. The vision is focused around industries such as computer games manufacturers, mobile technologies, medical technology, cyber security, computer-generated animation, and film studios, clustered close to the universities.
The economic growth proposed will be balanced with the needs of the environment through the delivery of sustainable buildings, a sustainable and balanced transport strategy benefiting the wider community, as well as a commitment to biodiversity with significant native tree planting on the site.
Protecting Talbot Heath
Talbot Heath will be protected by the aspiration to transform half of the unviable grazing fields (30 acres) into a Heathland Support Area, to improve biodiversity of both this land and the adjacent Talbot Heath. The Innovation Quarter will be separated from the HSA by a substantial belt of native tree and shrub planning. The north / south cycle route will be landscaped to separate it from the HSA. Tree lined walking and cycling routes within the Innovation Quarter will provide attractive local amenity away from the HSA and Talbot Heath for the benefit of the local community. The Heathland Support Area will be subject to a separate planning appeal.