Planning applications now require a Design and Access Statement to be provided according to Planning Minister Baroness Andrews. This is part of Government’s drive to increase standards of design and quality in all new developments.
Design and access statements are required for all planning applications except householder applications, change of use and engineering and mining operations.
This would, therefore, appear to cover waste management facilities, including those accessible by the general public, except perhaps those elements of facilities such as landfills that can be classified as engineering works. This approach acords with the design requirements in PPS10 – “Planning for Sustainable Waste Management”, Jul 2005.
The statements are intended to illustrate how design elements such as character and disability access have been considered, and should enable local authorities to gain a greater insight of proposals and their intended final form.
Applicants must demonstrate that detailed consideration of the layout, appearance, scale and landscaping has been undertaken as part of good design. They need also to have considered how users, including disabled people, the elderly and young children will be able to travel to and use the development itself.
Baroness Andrews said:
“The Government is putting high quality design at the heart of the planning process to ensure that it is integral to any new development proposals. Giving proper consideration to design and access principles at the start can improve the quality of new buildings and spaces and speed up the process too.
“We want developers and local authorities to seize this opportunity to ensure that they deliver attractive and exciting places that everyone can cherish.”
It is understood that many developers are already familiar with producing such statements and this new requirement can be seen as an extension of what is current best practice. The statement requirements are said to be proprtionate to the scale and nature of the application, i.e. a simple application should only require a similarly short design and access submission, whereas a complex major application should require a more substantial statement.
Secondary legislation was laid before Parliament on 12 April 2006 to enact design and access statements which now come into force as a requirement for outline planning permission. This is part of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and follows public consultation in March 2005 on the detail of the proposals. A Circular issued today provides guidance on these new planning measures
A good practice guide on how the statements will work has been issued by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). The guidance gives practical advice for developers and local authorities on what will need to be included and how the statements should be interpreted. Cabe Guidance on Design and Access Statements: How to write, read and use them is available here: http://www.cabe.org.uk/AssetLibrary/8073.pdf
A DCLG Circular, “Guidance on Changes to the Development Control System”, is available from The Stationery Office and on the Department for Communities and Local Government website at /index.asp?id=1500620