COLCHESTER is widely regarded as the fastest growing town in the east of England.
The borough's population is estimated to have grown by roughly 14 per cent between 2011 and 2020.
Thousands of new homes have been built in the town over this period to accommodate the new residents who obviously see the borough as an attractive place to live.
No part of the borough has escaped the waves of new development which have taken place, however, one area has seen more than anywhere else.
The north of Colchester, the wards of Mile End and Highwoods, has grown massively - particularly over the last decade.
As well as thousands of new homes at developments such as Mile End's Chesterwell, huge new leisure and sporting developments are planned at Northern Gateway, a key site for growth in the town.
Here are a some of key projects which have seen the area expand so rapidly:
Northern Gateway
Colchester Council's Northern Gateway project was split into three parts.
Plans for the latest of these, for hundreds of homes and medical facilities at Colchester Rugby Club, were approved (?) by the planning committee on Thursday.
Northern Gateway South
The planning application for the Mill Road site has now been approved (???).
The development will see up to 350 new homes, 30 per cent of which are set to be affordable, a private hospital and a medical centre built on the old home of Colchester Rugby Club.
Plans also feature a 75-bed care home, up to 56,000 sq m of office space and a healthcare campus with 300 homes for elderly residents.
There will also be units for food and retail businesses with a pedestrian boulevard and community park on site.
Northern Gateway Sports Park
The £29 million facility is now open to the public and considered a regional centre of excellence for sport.
Run by Colchester Council via Leisure World, it features a one-mile floodlit closed cycle track which will be used to launch a stage of the Women's Tour in October.
The 76-acre site, located off the A12, also features a multi-use sports centre, indoor cricket, a fitness suite, exercise and cycle studios, a new state-of-the-art rugby facility that will become the new home of Colchester Rugby Club, two all-weather pitches, additional grass pitches and an archery range.
Northern Gateway Leisure
Plans have been approved for the new cinema and leisure site, being built near Colchester United's Jobserve Community Stadium.
It will feature a Cineworld cinema, two drive-thru eateries, a bowling alley, an indoor golf centre and a climbing facility as well as a landscaped piazza and a car park with 750 spaces and associated electric vehicle charging points.
It represents about £50 million investment in the borough.
Roads redesign
As part of the Northern Gateway plans, in order to accommodate for the area's growth, the roads around the area are set to be totally overhauled.
Plans will see a traffic light junction replace the roundabout linking Axial Way, United Way and Via Urbis Romanae.
A new priority lane will be created into Axial Way for southbound traffic whilst an additional southbound lane off the junction of Axial Way, United Way and Via Urbis Romanae is set to be created.
New traffic light junctions will also be created from Axial Way into the Northern Gateway south site, where the homes and business units will be built.
Read more:
- The plans which will completely transform north of Colchester
- Plan revealed to redesign roads at Northern Gateway in Colchester
- IN PICTURES: Looking back at 35 years of Highwoods Shopping Centre
Chesterwell
Hundreds of homes have already been built at Mersea Homes' Chesterwell development, in Mile End.
However, once building is complete the estate could total around 1,600 properties, making it one of the largest in the borough.
New roads have had to be built to accommodate the estate, whilst there are also new community facilities planned.
Construction of a large Co-op supermarket is underway, whilst plans for a new primary and secondary school, the home of the new Trinity School, have been delayed but should be complete in 2023.
Severalls Hospital site
The old home of Colchester's former psychiatric hospital has been completely transformed in recent years.
Outline permission was granted way back in 2006 for up to 1,500 homes to be built at the sprawling site, off Via Urbis Romanae.
The majority have now been built by a collection of developers whilst works have also seen Camulos Academy created, with another Co-op supermarket on the way.
Roads on the estate closest to Mill Road, of 248 homes, were named in honour of the London 2012 Olympics.
Area around Colchester Hospital
Of course Colchester Hospital has grown significantly over recent years, primarily as the town's population has expanded.
There is also further development planned, with construction on a £34 million orthopaedic surgery centre starting soon.
But the area around the hospital has also grown extensively.
Hundreds of new homes have been built off Northern Approach Road and Turner Road, further adding to the north of Colchester's expanding population.
Is the development a good thing for north Colchester?
Highwoods councillor Beverley Oxford (Ind) said the area's rapid growth was only an issue if services didn't expand with it.
She said: "People need places to live but what I always want to see is a balancing act.
"If a developer wants to build houses they should give the right amount of affordable housing and include things for the community.
"These always seem to be lower priority whereas I think they should be much further up the list.
"There are a lot of people who cannot afford homes and they need help."
She added: "Houses always seem to come first and people come second and I think that is the wrong way round to do things."
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