Appendix 5
THE CONTENT OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BRIEF AND DESIGN STATEMENTS FOR THE MAJOR DEVELOPMENT WEST OF DIDCOT
The Planning and Development Brief will comprise a master plan and written statement with such drawings and illustrative material as necessary to indicate the following information:
i) the identity of the master developer with details of the land in the developer's control and with a programme for the assembly of any further land needed to implement the scheme as a whole. The Council will expect the master developer to acquire land by private treaty but will be prepared to exercise its powers of compulsory land acquisition to overcome land ownership constraints where the Council considers it expedient to do so and where all costs involved in such action would be reimbursed to the Council;
ii) a site appraisal indicating how the constraints of existing topography, watercourses, boundaries, buildings and transport infrastructure, both on and off the site, have influenced the urban form shown on the plans described in iii) and iv) below;
iii) a development strategy showing how the scheme would comprise one or more “walkable neighbourhoods” with homes in each neighbourhood within walking distance of local services located in centres on public transport routes. The development strategy will show the disposition of all built development in the form of perimeter street blocks with accompanying information on each block relating to its area, its net housing density, the estimated number and size of dwellings, the proportion of dwellings in the affordable category, and location and size of buildings in non-residential use;
iv) a public realm strategy showing the disposition of public buildings and of public urban space and public greenspace networks within and around the built development. With regard to public realm buildings to be provided, the strategy will give details and show the location of all schools, community centres, primary medical health care facilities, local convenience shops, emergency services facilities and indoor sports facilities. With regard to the public urban space and public greenspace networks, the strategy will contain information on each space relating to its dimensions and design and to the public realm functions and facilities to be provided within it. These functions and facilities will include:
• outdoor community sports;
• equipped children's play areas;
• allotment gardens;
• informal recreation (to be provided by civic spaces with paved surfaces, public gardens, open land with meadows and a varied topography including woodland, wetland, ponds and watercourses);
• the assimilation and screening of buildings in the landscape (to be achieved by tree and woodland planting);
• energy conservation including the shelter of buildings, mitigation of atmospheric pollution and safeguarding residential amenity from sources of noise (to be achieved by the provision of open land with meadows and woodland);
• the enhancement of biodiversity (to be achieved by the provision of open land with meadows, public gardens, woodland, wetland, ponds and watercourses); and
• the creation of local distinctiveness (to include works of public art).
v) a transport strategy consistent with the objectives of the Didcot Area ITS, showing the layout and design of all proposed footways, footpaths, cycletracks and roads in the site based on a permeable, generally rectilinear, grid pattern of movement corridors. The strategy will indicate proposals for the extension of this transport infrastructure where it is necessary to provide good communications between the site, key destinations in Didcot, local employment centres, the A34 trunk road and the countryside. The transport strategy will also contain proposals for the enhancement of existing and provision of new transport routes and services affording residents of the site good public transport access from Didcot and within Didcot. The master developer will undertake a transport assessment and this assessment will inform the contents of the transport strategy;
vi) the definition of a number of character areas with each area comprising groups of adjacent perimeter street blocks. Information will be given on how building design, building materials, plot dimensions and boundary details and the design of the public realm would be varied between the character areas to achieve distinctiveness and thereby a sense of place and a legible townscape within each neighbourhood. The development brief will contain details of the layout of all buildings and public spaces in the local service centres, including streetscape illustrations of all building frontages in those centres;
vii) an energy conservation and resource management strategy indicating proposals for meeting targets for the conservation of energy and use of water resources and proposals for the recycling and disposal of waste. In relation to energy conservation the strategy will have regard to the targets recommended in the technical report entitled Energy Conservation Measures for Didcot Development - Targets produced for South Oxfordshire District Council by AEA Technology Environment in July 2001;
viii) a surface water drainage strategy indicating proposals for a sustainable urban drainage system, including works and measures to prevent flooding of adjacent land and pollution of the water environment;
ix) a strategy for the protection of the historic environment indicating proposals for the protection of buildings and places of architectural or historic interest and proposals for the preservation of archaeological remains that may exist on or under the land;
x) an ecological strategy indicating proposals for the protection of sites of ecological importance on the land and proposals for the development of new sites of ecological importance to enhance biodiversity and to compensate for habitats lost through development. Particular attention will be given to the provision of continuous corridors for the movement of wildlife around and through the site;
xi) the management of site development. This will include a plan and accompanying timetable showing the master developer's intentions for the phased implementation of the site. In exceptional circumstances the Council may consider the desirability of compulsory purchase of land identified for housing, to bring it forward for development. However, this will only be considered where land remains undeveloped for a prolonged period because of ownership constraints, and where the Council's efforts to persuade owners to bring the land forward for development have failed;
xii) the management of the delivery of infrastructure and services. The Council must be assured that all elements of the public buildings, of the public urban space and public greenspace networks and of all the facilities and services described in iii) to x) above will be made available for use by residents of the development when needed by them. The development brief will indicate when in the development timetable each element of these facilities and services will be delivered. It will also identify the body (including the master developer if appropriate) that has agreed to be responsible for the provision, including the construction and completion, of each element. In addition, the development brief will identify the body that has agreed to be responsible for the long-term management, including the maintenance, of each of these public realm facilities.
The Council will require an application for the approval of reserved matters following an outline planning permission, or an application for full planning permission, to be accompanied by a design statement. A design statement will include a written statement with such plans, drawings and other illustrative material as is necessary to convey the following information:
i) a site analysis with an explanation of how the layout of buildings and public spaces takes account of the opportunities, constraints and characteristics of the site;
ii) a design framework with an explanation of how the layout of buildings, public spaces and transport corridors will conform with the master plan framework contained in the development brief;
iii) a design concept plan for the site with an explanation of how building frontages will be located so as to enclose strongly-defined streets and public spaces and with details of the location of important vistas, gateways, focal points and key buildings; and
iv) a character area framework for the site with an explanation of how the design of
buildings, plot dimensions, boundary treatments, public spaces, and the choice of materials used will conform with the character area for each part of the site.
The Council may refuse planning permission in cases where the plans and drawings submitted with a planning application indicate to the Council that the development would not achieve the quality to which the design statement aspires.