Swindon development is monitored

Some campaigners had opposed the Garden development

Swindon's Front Garden is to be a trial site for a government initiative aimed at ensuring quality new homes.

The town will trial "design coding", where new developments are monitored to ensure they are of a high quality and well-designed.

The scheme also means there will be more focus on ensuring developments are more sustainable in the long term.

That means they should include schools, shops, employment areas, playing fields and affordable housing.

'Good quality'

Work on building the first of 4,500 homes on the Front Garden is due to start in the next two years.

Mr Prescott said: "High quality, well-designed housing is vital to creating sustainable communities.

"We must avoid the mistakes of the past and ensure new homes are sympathetic to their local environment."

A "design code" is a "...set of rules or requirements to guide the development of a site or a place."

It aims to "provide clarity as to what constitutes acceptable design quality, and thereby a level of certainty for developers and the community that can help accelerate the delivery of good quality new development."

Swindon is the seventh place in England to trial the project.