A LANDOWNER who plans to build a new 6,000 home garden village wants to include "low carbon technology" in the scheme.

Mark Thistlethwayte, a landowner who is planning to build the new 6,000 home Welborne Garden Village says he is "writing a new rule book" with this scheme.

The new village which would be near Junction 10 of the M27 would also include schools, shops, a business park and health facilities.

But concerns have previously been made over the amount of affordable housing in the development and the environmental impact of the build.

Mr Thistlethwayte says however that he wants to include low carbon technology in the development such as ground heating and has already built a solar park that he claims, provides enough energy to the grid to power Welborne twice over.

Daily Echo: CGI images of new 6,000 home Welborne Garden Village development.

The former banker has assembled a team of advisors to deliver of his vision and is dealing with regional builders to adapt existing buildings on the land to house ex-soldiers and homeless people so they can learn the skills needed to build their own homes.

He added: “The council didn’t want so many trees and they said it would cost £5,000 for the maintenance of each one. I thought, ‘OK, we’ll do it ourselves.’

"To that end, Welborne will have its own estate management company, offering training and employment to locals to maintain the parks, hedges and trees and other green spaces.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a garden village the way it should be built, to include the local community and make sure that it will still be fit to live in one hundred years from now."

Future-proofing concepts being considered as part of the 25-year project include drones to deliver parcels from a central hub, access to virtual GP services from home, low carbon technology and solar power.