Context 158 - March 2019

C O N T E X T 1 5 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 9 49 the land offered for development outlined in red. Sites are then assessed to see which have the fewest constraints or objections. There then follows a lengthy and expensive inquiry process where the preferred sites are incorporated in a plan in order to meet perceived development needs. It is a spreadsheet exercise which tends to grow towns by adding development pods to a town rather than considering the form of the whole settlement. Strategic urban design There is a widespread need for an understand- ing of urbanism to inform our local develop- ment plans. Sometimes referred to as ‘strategic urban design’, such considerations are often place-specific rather than topic-based.They take account of topography, seeking to grow set- tlements by watersheds rather than arbitrary ownership boundaries; they propose movement structures that are the focus and essence of the town rather than distributor roads that simply connect allocated sites rather like a plumbing diagram might join up random appliances; and they create neighbourhoods which are focused around the most important streets and avenues in the town rather than looking inward to the centre of a land ownership. There is an historical dimension too. Growth areas are often part of a settlement with a long history and characterised by particular local development patterns, perhaps responding to micro-climate or socio-economic considerations. These may be as important in influencing new development as architectural detail or local building materials. Many local authorities are short on design skills. Where urban design posts exist, the focus is often on the front line in dealing with developer planning applications and seeking to negotiate a better outcome for a site that is already allocated. So where can design skills be found to feed into the local development plan process? The answer may often be in the conservation team. Conservation officers are skilled in preparing character assessments of the built environment, have an apprecia- tion of development scales ranging from the neighbourhood to the individual plot, and have a deep understanding of development as a continuum. As someone once said, if you want to know where we are going, study history. Yet too often these skills are restricted to the consideration of existing conservation areas and listed buildings. I have lost count of the number of conversations I have had with friends and neighbours who have encountered a rigorous but objective ride on a planning application for a listed building or within a conservation area by dedicated and informed staff, yet are baffled as to why a dismal major development is springing up nearby. There is a good argument for moving design and conservation teams into the mainstream of the development plan process rather than just servicing development control. From a local authority chief officer’s perspective, the conservation team is an existing, managed and skilled resource that could be brought into the work-flow of local plan production. If there is a budget to hire an urban designer, the conservation team can provide a base rather than a designer trying to be useful but with little support. Strategic urban design inputs from the con- servation team can be of great value in prepar- ing both local plans and action plans: Shaping the local plan •• Urban form character statements at the information gathering stage •• Strategic urban design options at the issues paper stage •• Contributing a vision for growth to the draft plan Action plans •• Study-area urban form assessment •• Input into site planning options •• The spatial vision Rather than using conservation and design skills solely to meet the legal requirement of addressing conservation area and listed building, let’s bring design and conservation into the mainstream. How do we want to shape the 90 square miles of new housing over the next decade? If you want to shape the future, study history! Roger Evans, a former chair of the Urban Design Group, is an architect and urban planner specialising in urban design. Worcester urban design study: learning from the past This historic approach into the market town of Bicester has been ‘improved’ recently as part of a growth plan. Where was the design and conservation input?