Planning for a ‘Beautiful and Sustainable’ future

To deliver this vision, the Government has said it will:

• Cut red tape, but not standards, placing a higher regard on quality, design and the environment than ever before.
• Create a ‘fast-track system’ where swift planning approval will be granted for beautiful buildings.
• Establish national design guidance for developers to build and preserve beautiful communities.
• Ensure Councils prioritise good design especially where there is compliance with local design guides and codes.
• Ensure the planning system supports efforts to combat climate change and maximises environmental benefits.
• Facilitate ambitious improvements in the energy efficiency standards for buildings to help deliver the commitment to net-zero by 2050.
• Expect new development not only to be beautiful, but to create a ‘net gain’ not just ‘no net harm’, with a greater focus on ‘placemaking’ and ‘the creation of beautiful places’ within the National Planning Policy Framework.

What are the issues arising from the Government’s vision for Building Beautiful?

It’s doubtful that anyone will be surprised by the emphasis on weighty legislative changes, design codes and form-based codes to make building more beautiful but also easier and more predictable through expanding permitted development rights. However, the solution on the table raises some interesting questions which will need to be considered and answered:

• Local Authorities and Design Councils will be tasked with producing detailed, good-practice design guidance. This will be a costly and lengthy process which will rely on the active participation of a number of groups with varied ‘agendas’ to reach some sort of consensus – potentially a tricky process especially with the Government’s new emphasis on up-front engagement. How do you persuade local communities to positively engage in this preparation of local design codes?
• How will a national design code reflect conflicting economic, cultural and social positions?
• How often will design guidance change to reflect changes in local circumstances? What, or how do you collect the ‘empirical evidence base’ to ensure that guidance is based on verifiable data?
• Will there be a place for innovative and uniquely beautiful buildings even if they don’t meet ‘the code?’
• There’s a lot of emphasis on making new residential development beautiful. What about non-residential buildings and infrastructure? Do they not need to be ‘beautiful’?
• It’s widely considered that reusing buildings is often a more sustainable form of development. Would reusing a building qualify for a ‘fast-track’ decision, or is this incentive only on offer for new residential developments?
• What happens if your scheme doesn’t comply with local design guides and codes but does offer significant alternative planning gain? Will the planning balance no longer apply and will determination of your scheme take longer?
• Will having a chief officer for design and place-making at each Local Planning Authority result in a consistent design approach and if so, is there a danger that uniform forms of development will emerge?
• Can a National Model Design Code be used by local authorities to guide preparation of local design codes which will be used to set out acceptable forms of development? Can design become a ‘one size fits all’ concept?
• How will robust environmental assessment be applied to ‘fast-track’ developments especially if current environment protections and processes are retained?
• Who wins the fight between environmental sustainability and beauty?
• Is the planning process about to become even more front-loaded and who pays?

However, the obvious question is “How do you define ‘beauty?” Can beautiful design be prescriptive and simply based on meeting codes and standards - and should it be consistent? If so, how easy will it be to reverse a decision where it was ruled that a scheme was not beautiful if it’s going to be so absolute? Can beautiful buildings be delivered when dealing with such a subjective topic?

It’s clear that more detail will need to emerge from the consultation paper on this particular theme and this is promised in the Autumn in the form of the Government’s response to the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission’s report; the National Model Design Code to supplement the October 2019 National Design Guide; consultation on changes to the NPPF to foster better design and the Government’s response to the Future Homes Standard consultation.

Time for us all to brush-off and ‘step-up’ on our design skills – or at least speak to a someone who can. Your usual RPS contact can help – give us a call.

The deadline for comments on the White Paper is 26^th October 2020.