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Cornerstone Planning

Action plan gives neighbourhoods and homes designer facelift

The government has announced plans to amend policy planning guidance in an effort to ensure that new developments are more environmentally sustainable, higher quality and respect local heritage.

The plan, World class places: The Government’s strategy for improving quality of place, was published by the the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on 27 November 2009, and launched by Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw and Housing Minister Ian Austin.

The action plan includes improving design standards of all new Government-funded building initiatives such as the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) school building programme and seeks to “strengthen local leadership and skills” relating to design quality through the Total Place project.

According to the DCMS, the plan will further see the public is placed at the centre of decision making by enabling greater public ownership of local assets through initiatives such as the Advancing Assets and Community Builders programmes.

Housing Minister Ian Austin said that the country can no longer afford to build homes that will have to be knocked down within a generation because they’re unsuitable, badly designed or badly built.

“We want to ensure that whenever new homes and communities are being planned, the top priority must be the need to create a safe, attractive and sustainable environment for people to live in,” he said.

The plan's seven key objectives include:

  • Strengthening leadership on quality of place at the national and regional level. Actions include boosting the role of ministerial design champions.
  • Encouraging local civic leaders and local government to prioritise quality of place. Actions include improving support and training on quality of place for civic leaders and planning committee members.
  • Ensuring relevant government policy, guidance and standards consistently promote quality of place and are user-friendly. Actions include introducing new planning policy on the historic environment and green infrastructure.
  • Putting the public and community at the centre of place-shaping. Actions include promoting and funding more user engagement in the design of new public buildings.
  • Ensuring all development for which central government is directly responsible is built to high design and sustainability standards and promotes quality of place. Actions include establishing design thresholds for all new government funded building programmes.
  • Encouraging higher standards of market-led development. Actions include developing and promoting the business case for investing in high quality development.
  • Strengthening quality of place skills, knowledge and capacity. Actions include strengthening the Government’s regional offer to local authorities, public services and developers.

 

To obtain a copy of the report please visit: http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/6439.aspx