Urban Design

'Good design ensures attractive, usable, durable and adaptable places and is a key element in achieving sustainable development.  Good design is indivisible from good planning' (PPS 1, Paragraph 33).

Set out below are links to the main areas of work carried out by the Councils Urban Design Officer.

Design Statements|

From 10th August 2006, many planning and listed building applications must be accompanied by a "Design and Access Statement".

Such a statement must appraise the context of the proposed development and cover both the design principles and concepts that have been applied to particular aspects of the proposal - these are the amount, layout, scale, landscaping and appearance of the development.

For more information click on the link above.

Urban Design Strategy|

The Council has prepared an Urban Design Strategy.  The intention of this Strategy is to:

• Help market Gloucester to inward investors.
• Promote good design.
• To give the Council reasons to refuse poorly designed buildings and spaces.
• To guide local investment decisions of other Public Sector Agencies.

For more information, click on the link above.

Urban Design Framework - Western Waterfront|

The Council prepared an Urban Design Framework for the Western Waterfront area.  It was adopted by the Council on 22 November 2001, subject to a number of changes. For more information, click on the link above..

Approved Documents

The Council currently has approved guidance on Designing Safer Places, and Shop Front Design. For more information, click on the links below.

• Designing Safer Places
• Shop Front Design

Police Liaison|

The urban design officer and the Police Architectural Liaison Officer meet once a month to discuss pre-application enquiries and current planning applications.  For more information, including dates of future meetings, click on the link above.

Useful Links

Some useful links to other planning related websites are set out below.

• http://www.cabe.org.uk/ - Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
• http://www.communities.gov.uk/ - Communities and Local Government
• http://www.rudi.net/ - Resource for Urban Design Information
• http://www.udg.org.uk/ - Urban Design Group
• http://www.udal.org.uk/ - Urban Design Alliance

Contacting the Urban Design Officer

The City Council has an Urban Design Officer available to discuss any design issues with potential developers in the early stages of the development process.

Last Updated 21/10/2008