Dorset Design Code consultation in full swing
In October Shaftesbury became one of the first of the 29 towns and larger villages in Dorset to be visited by the team drafting the new Dorset Design Code.
This is the code that is intended to become a central part of the Dorset Local Plan now also being consulted on.
The Dorset Design Code will raise design standards of future development through clear rules and guidance. It will help make sure that new buildings and spaces are:
- locally distinctive
- high quality
- sustainable
Led by managing partner Patrick Devlin of London-based architectural consultancy Pollard Thomas Edwards (PTE), who chaired the Shaftesbury meeting at the town hall with members of both the Dorset Local Plan team and Dorset Highways, the DDC team’s job is to draw up a draft code for publication and further discussion on the Dorset Council website early in the New Year.
The role of the final version as an intrinsic part of the Dorset Local Plan is to make developers, particularly the so-called ‘volume developers’ such as Persimmon and Barrett Redrow, build according to the principles of ’local distinctiveness’. That is, what fits the local landscape and character and not the ticky-tacky little boxes all the same from Newcastle to Newquay - as Shane Bartlett once contemptuously described it to me - that developers too often want.
To the three key questions:
- Will the code be comprehensive in covering more than just building design?
- Will the code be mandatory on developers?
- Will the code be enforceable?
Patrick Devlin’s answer in each case was a firm ‘yes’.
As Patrick defined it, it’s not just about building design but more comprehensively will include landscape design, topography, accessibility and nature recovery. The code, influenced by the Sue Clifford and Angela King ‘bible’ on local distinctiveness ‘England in Particular’ (Hodder & Stoughton, 2006), is also expected to champion the principle of nature friendly towns and green wildlife-friendly ‘corridors’ into urban centres such as Sustainable Shaftesbury’s ‘Green Wheel’ concept.
The two-hour visit, that included a tour of the town and some of its housing estates, is likely to have been the model followed in all the 29 towns and villages the team visited between September and October. The last visit was Portland on 21 October.
So that’s clearly the plan but will it be delivered? Shane Bartlett, planning portfolio-holder on Dorset Council, says he wants maximum delivery on this so that must give us huge hope. Hopes are often dashed by council committees but the hope must be it’s different this time. The important thing is to get involved.
Meanwhile the Dorset Design Code survey is open to anyone to take part and is on the DC website until 21 Nov at: https://consultation.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/spatial-planning/dorset-design-code-survey/.
-Richard Thomas,