Designing Safer Places
The City Council has published the Interim Adoption Supplementary Planning Document "Designing Safer Places".
Gloucester City Council is increasingly aware of the impact that the fear of crime has on the opportunities people feel are available to them, and how this influences the way they are able to enjoy their environment. Under the City Council's Regeneration Priorities for investment and improvement, the City Council is committed to ensure community safety principles are built into proposals for new development. This priority requires the City Council to work with others to reduce crime and the fear of crime.
The purpose of this document is to guide the design of residential developments in a way that improves the safety and security of people, their homes, locality and the whole city. The seven main principles identified in this document are adapted from recent government guidance and should be applied to all new residential developments. The principles identified in this guide can also be used as a tool in the redesign of existing areas throughout the city.
Good design is fundamental in creating usable, sustainable, attractive places and communities that are pleasant to be in. Taking into account community safety and how the users of the environment will behave and feel in a particular place is a key element of good design. This includes doing the utmost to ensure the safety of the community by using good design to reduce the opportunities for crime and to create positive places where people are safe and feel safe.
This document is intended to guide architects, developers, landscape architects and urban designers in the public and private sector. Planning staff and the Council's Planning Committee will use the guide, as supplementary planning guidance, to help assess and determine planning applications.
Developers will be expected to adhere to the city's standards in order to obtain planning permission, although exceptions will be considered where there are other overriding planning reasons for a departure from this guidance.