the populations they are intended to serve, the current housing allocations will need to be implemented on the ground in environmentally and socially sustainable, locally acceptable and contextually compatible ways; ■ that consensus, rather than adversarial means will need to be found before high quality residential design in urban, landscape and architectural terms qin be delivered; and ■ that to achieve this, authorities will need to co-ordinate highways and planning action aimed at achieving quality; invest in the necessary tools with which to do the job - comprehensive design policies in development plans, design briefs that interpret design requirements on a site-specific basis, and local design guidance to expand on principles outlined in the development plan; as well as in the necessa,y skilled manpower to interpret, implement and monitor any adopted principles on an application by application basis, through the planning process. Dr Matthew Carmona was, until recently, Lecturer in Planning (Urban Design) at the Institute of Urban Planning, University of Nottingham. Notes and References 1 DETR, Planning/or communities of the future: Command Paper 3885, The Stationery Office, 1998 2 DoE & DoT,DesignBulletin32: Residential roads and footpaths: Layout Considerations (second edition), HMSO, 1992 3 Johnston B, 'Planning for the communities of the future' ,Planning, 6 March 1998, Issue 1258, p9 4 DoE, Planning Policy Guidance Note 1: General policy and principles, The Stationery Office, 1997, para.3 5 DoE, Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing, HMSO, 1992, paras.4-7 6 Gummer], DoE Press Release 162: 'The Way to Achieve "Quality" in Urban Design', DoE, 30 March 1995 New Labour: newconservation? John Pendlebury and Tim Townshend wonder what the Labour Government will actually do for conservation. It does not seem likely that the historic environment will be high on the Labour government's agenda. Indeed, some indications of the current climate might cause alarm to conservationists. The Urban Task Force, created by John Prescott and chaired by Richard Rogers, has written "Often, urban sites are contaminated or derelict. They may contain listed buildings that have special protected status. These types of constraint can effectively block redevelopment" .1 It does seem, however, that Labour is keen on Local Agenda 21 ma1 ll HERITAGE and themes such as local distinctiveness. In our survey of public participation in conservation area designation and management,2 though the question was not directly asked, it is noticeable how few respondents made connections between conservation and other environmental activity, such as LA 21.3 A key element of LA 21 is citizen participation. In our survey we found very different attitudes towards what this might mean. Some respondents saw this as an empowering process. For example: LOCAL DISTINCTIVEN 7 Raynsford N, Royal Fine Art Commission Seminar: 'Good Design in Speculative Housing', London, DETR, 3 December 1997 8 DoE, Planning Policy Guidance 6: Town centres and retail developments, HMSO,1996, paras.2.33-2.40 9 DoE, Planning Policy Guidance 7: The Countryside- Environmental quality and economic and social development, The Stationery Office. 1997, paras. 2.11-2.15 10 Carmona M, 'Squaring the design control circle - Prescription without interference', Town and Country Planning, Vol. 65, No. 9, September 1996, pp240-243 " We havefound it very beneficial to work with the local community in drafting 'character statements' and enhancement proposals rather than simply consulting on our ideas. Local ownership hasproved very f!tfective in many ways". In a similar vein, another described their authority's changing practices: "It (public consultation) can give inconclusive results. It also qften leads to the complaint that Council's have already made their minds upprior to consultation. Agenda 21 MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ❖ ListedBuildinys ❖ PropertlJfflanayement ❖ Linkedtodiyitalimayes • Available NOW • Received with ACCLAMATION! • Unbeatable Imaging • Network ready • GIS linking, seamlessly • Greenbacks scanned, digitised and OCR fbr l;1'inl1bWJ • Capture of images from digital cameras, film, slides, plans, etc. ORION IMAGING Ltd Comprehensive leaflet and demo disk available from: Tel:01633868811 Fax:01633868968 E-Mail:info@orions.co.uk Internet:htp://www.orions.co.uk Context60 December1998 17
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