Policy information sourced from the Mole Valley Local Plan

EN4: CHARACTER AND DESIGN

Local Character
1. All new development must be of high-quality design that makes a positive contribution to its local character. All development proposals must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the site and how they relate to the existing area - including features of local distinctiveness - and take opportunities to improve the quality of the landscape and townscape.

2. Within Development Opportunity Areas and large allocated sites (100+ dwellings), however, innovative and distinctive changes to the local character of these areas may be supported provided that the development responds sensitively to the site and surrounding area.

Design Requirements
3. To ensure that development respects, contributes to and enhances the local environment and character, subject to Part 2, any development proposals should:

Relationship to the Wider Area

  • Complement the character of the area, responding to the prevailing pattern of development, the townscape and/or the landscape;
  • Achieve a well-designed transition between the urban and rural environment on the urban fringe;
  • Improve movement by creating safe and attractive access points, internal and egress routes for pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles, where practicable, and create a legible internal circulation for all transport modes within larger sites;
  • Delineate clearly between public space (for recreation or social interaction) and private space, both in respect of the surrounding area and internally within larger sites;
  • Retain existing townscape and landscape views and vistas and take the opportunity, where practicable, to reinstate or create new ones;

Relationship to the Existing Built Development and Features

  • Be of an appropriate scale, height, massing, proportion and form;
  • Achieve appropriate spacing between buildings;
  • Ensure existing building lines are respected;
  • Respond to natural features and use them as features, where practicable;
  • Ensure boundary treatments are well-designed and respect local context;

Materials and Building Design

  • Use high-quality and durable materials;
  • Include architectural detailing that responds to detailing on the host and/or surrounding buildings;

Parking, Services and Utilities

  • Ensure that car and cycling parking does not dominate the development and does not cause safety issues;
  • Ensure that bin storage is unobtrusive, supports recycling as well as disposal, does not harm the amenity of occupiers or uses nearby and can be easily accessed by waste collection services;
  • Ensure that utility equipment is unobtrusive and does not obstruct movement, and that building services equipment, and operating equipment in industrial areas, is integrated;

Landscaping

  • Retain existing trees, hedges and other flora, where practicable, and, where not, replace them in accordance with Policy EN9;
  • Incorporate new soft landscaping, where appropriate;
  • Incorporate new street trees, provided that the trees will not (i) disrupt underground and overhead utilities; (ii) obscure sightlines, especially for CCTV and public transport drivers; (iii) hinder pedestrian mobility as a result of heavy leaf-fall or exposed roots; or (iv) obscure natural light to dwellings;

Amenity

  • Ensure the amenity of future occupiers and of residents occupying properties in the surrounding area is not significantly affected. If the amenity effects of the proposed development can be made acceptable by mitigation measures, then the Council will seek these measures. Amenity can be significantly affected by:
    1. Overlooking, causing a loss of privacy;
    2. Unacceptable visual impact;
    3. Loss of sunlight, daylight, overshadowing or the need for artificial light;
    4. Unacceptable traffic movements, to, from and within the site and car parking
    5. Lack of outlook or a sense of enclosure;
    6. Noise and vibration levels and the times when such disturbances are likely to occur;and,
    7. Odour, smoke, fumes, dust, litter accumulation, poorly located and designed refusestorage, exterior lighting and servicing;
  • Take into account its suitability and compatibility with nearby uses and attempt to mitigate any adverse impacts through appropriate layout, design and management of the site;
  • Ensure the reasonable enjoyment of the use of buildings, gardens and other spaces is not significantly affected due to the adverse impact on amenity from nearby uses; and,
  • Where appropriate, be conditioned to prevent the ability to change use (as set out in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development Order) 2015) without the need for planning permission to a use that would affect the amenity of those occupying nearby properties or residents of the surrounding area.

Shopfronts
4. The design of new shopfronts and other commercial signage and the re-design of existing shopfronts and commercial signage should demonstrate respect for the architecture and features of the buildings in or on which they are set and the character of the area. Design should have regard to the Council’s guidance for shopfronts: ‘Shopfront Design: A Guide to Good Practice’.

5. The Council will resist the removal of shopfronts of architectural or historic interest.

Advertisements and Hoardings
6. The Council will exercise strict control over the number, design and siting of advertisements and hoardings to ensure the character and amenity of individual buildings and streets are not materially harmed, having regard to the interests of amenity and public safety (including highway safety).

7. In Areas of Special Control of Advertisements, as set out on the Policies Map, a stricter degree of control over advertisement will apply. See Regulation 21 of the 2007 Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations and the associated schedules.

For more information please see the Mole Valley Local Plan