Design of developments

E5 Design of developments BE5: Design of developments 1. To respond to their context and create well-designed outcomes, development proposals must align with the Buckinghamshire Design Code (Appendix J), and planning practice guidance relating to design and placemaking. 2. Applicants may be required to prepare a Local Design Tool(s) to support a development proposal, especially for significant projects such as major housing and mixed-use developments. 3. Development proposals that are not well designed should be refused, when assessed against this policy. Substantial weight should be given to compliance with this policy when assessing the design quality of proposals. 4. Substantial weight should also be given to outstanding or innovative designs which promote high levels of sustainability, or which help raise the standard of design more generally in an area, so long as they are consistent with the overall form and layout of their surroundings. 5. Design quality should be considered throughout the evolution, assessment and delivery of development proposals, including through any pre-application engagement. 6. The Council will use relevant planning conditions that refer to clear and accurate plans and drawings, which provide visual clarity about the design of the development, including the approved use of materials where appropriate. 7. The quality of approved development must not be materially diminished between permission and completion, because of changes proposed following initial approval. 7.445 High-quality design is key to preserving and enhancing the quality of the built environment and delivering successful new places that are sustainable, distinctive and fit for purpose. New developments should have an individual identity that either complements or forms an attractive contrast with its surroundings. 7.446 Buckinghamshire has many distinct and diverse towns and villages with unique cultural heritage, local geology and geography and built form. Local building traditions determine this local distinctiveness through their siting and the use of local materials and building styles that define its character. 7.447 There are a wide variety of landscape character types including the nationally recognised Chilterns National Landscape. There are also many unique settlement characteristics that take on a particular built form and type of building material. Therefore, designs that may be acceptable in one part of Buckinghamshire may not be appropriate elsewhere. 7.448 Good design should enhance settlements and create solutions that are attractive and distinctive. This refers to the unique quality of buildings, landscape and topography in a locality that defines its character and reinforces a sense of place. 7.449 All developments must positively contribute to the character of the built environment and landscape, having regard for the local context and surrounding amenity. 7.450 Where the existing townscape or landscape character of a site or area makes little or no positive contribution to local identity, visual harmony or settlement quality, proposals should not simply reproduce its deficiencies. In such cases, development should help establish a more coherent and locally rooted character by drawing on the positive and enduring qualities of the wider settlement and landscape context. Abstract reinterpretation, deliberate visual contrast, or reliance on generic design approaches should not be used where they weaken local identity, legibility, settlement quality or the relationship of development to its landscape and townscape context. 7.451 Contemporary design may be supported where it is demonstrably well composed and where its form, proportion, roofscape, façade composition, materials, detailing and relationship to streets and spaces reinforce the positive and enduring architectural character of the locality. Traditional design should be based on a sound understanding of local materials, proportions, architectural character and detailing. 7.452 New buildings may incorporate non-traditional materials, details or architectural expression where these are robust, well composed, and clearly compatible with the positive and enduring character of the locality, including its building forms, proportions, roofscape, material palette and streetscape. 7.453 Good design outcomes can often be agreed more effectively by engaging early with the Council prior to making a formal planning application. Developers are encouraged to engage as early as possible in the design process.