Sherford New Town – Building a Community from the Ground Up
Introduction
Sherford is a new town on the edge of Plymouth, set to include 7,500 homes, a new town centre, and a freeport business district over the next 10 years. It offers a unique opportunity to learn from past projects of this kind, to design a new community and 21st century town that works for people, business, and the environment.
To realise the Sherford ambition there needed to be meaningful partnership between developers, local authorities and the residents.
Our role
To build on existing connections and work with partners to set up the Sherford Community Land Trust (SCLT) and embed social enterprise thinking and community ownership into the town’s development.
What we delivered
- Medium-term business plan for the CLT, unlocking Section 106 endowment funding
- Establish a community panel and working groups for youth; communications; environment and heritage; and shops, amenities and events. Each group is led by community members driving and delivering activity within their community
- Governance review, operational development, and branding refresh, preparing the CLT for the admittance of members, the delivery of their inaugural AGM, and election of resident board members.
- Strategic work with the combined councils Urban Fringe Team, to embed community ownership and social enterprise thinking into the planning design of the town centre and high street
- Stakeholder interviews with service providers and production of a design brief for a campus of community buildings, including a health and wellbeing centre and more cultural and enterprise focussed “town hall”.
- Successful bid to National Lottery Heritage Fund, to deliver a series of ‘Making the most of our Heritage’ events and activities led by the community
Impact
Sherford now has a functioning CLT, engaged residents, and a pipeline of community-led projects. Work continues into 2026, laying the foundations for a thriving, community-owned town.
