Policy information sourced from Thurrock Core Strategy and Policies for Management of Development

PMD2 - DESIGN AND LAYOUT

The Council requires all design proposals to respond to the sensitivity of the site and its surroundings, to optimize the potential of the site to accommodate development, to fully investigate the magnitude of change that would result from the proposals, and mitigate against negative impacts.

All development proposals must satisfy the following criteria:

  • Character – Development must contribute positively to the character of the area in which it is proposed, and to surrounding areas that may be affected by it. It should seek to contribute positively to local views, townscape, heritage assets and natural features, and contribute to the creation of a positive sense of place.
  • Continuity – Development proposals must promote continuity of street frontages and provide active ground floor frontages as far as reasonably possible.
  • Public Realm – New development should contribute to improvements in the public realm by contributing sensitive planting, street furniture, appropriate lighting and public art where appropriate. The quality of the design and detailing of all development, including interfacing elements such as facades, steps and walls should be robust, engaging and contribute positively to the public realm.
  • Public and Private Amenity space – Development proposals must provide adequate public and private amenity space in accordance with Thurrock’s relevant adopted standards, particularly in areas with identified deficiencies. It should be attractive, safe, uncluttered, readily accessible and should promote play.
  • Accessibility – Development proposals must allow easy and safe access for all members of the community. Development must also integrate land uses and all modes of transport but pedestrians and cyclists must be given priority over traffic in scheme design.
  • Permeability and Legibility – Development should promote connections between places that people wish to use, including public transport links, community facilities and the Greengrid. Development should be designed to help people find their way and must be legible for all members of the community, providing recognisable routes using landmarks and signage where appropriate.
  • Safety and Security – Development proposals must create safe and secure environments and reduce the scope for crime and fear of crime. Where appropriate, proposals should adopt the principles of Designing Out Crime set out in the Police Service’s publication ‘Secured by Design’.
  • Landscape – Features contributing to the natural landscape in the Borough, such as woods, hedges, specimen trees, unimproved grassland, ponds and marshes, will be protected and where appropriate enhanced to maintain their landscape and wildlife value. Provision and enhancement of landscape features will also be required to contribute to multiple uses and/or eco-system services, including amenity, recreation, flood alleviation and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems.
  • Diversity – Development proposals must promote variety and choice through a mix of mutually compatible developments and uses.
  • Utilities – Development proposals must accommodate public services and utilities without compromising design and layout. This includes providing suitable access to maintenance, waste and emergency service vehicles.
  • Energy and Resource use – Development should be designed to minimise energy and resource use. This includes integrating sustainable construction techniques, siting and orientation of buildings to maximise energy and water efficiency.
  • Layout – The layout of all development should optimise the assets of the site, while conforming to the appropriate standards for layout, design and access set out in the Layout and Standards SPD.

In the interests of encouraging good design the Council will require residential developers to carry out robust assessments of their proposals using the Building for Life 12 questions, where the questions are relevant to the development being proposed, and submit such assessments in support of planning applications. The Council will use these questions as the basis for discussions with intending developers both before and after submission of planning applications. The objective will be to arrive at a mutually agreed assessment of proposals prior to a decision being made where there are no ‘red’ outcomes and where the only ‘amber’ outcomes are those where the characteristics of the site and its circumstances are such as to make ‘green’ outcomes unachievable.

The Council will encourage pre-application discussions and design review of development proposals by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and/or other relevant bodies, and in relation to proposals having a wider impact, will wish to see that developers have worked closely with local communities to arrive at proposals that take account of their views.

Where the Council has produced a design brief for a site or sites, developers will be obliged to meet its detailed requirements.

For more information please see the Core Strategy and Policies for Management of Development