Dudley Council

Part One: Spatial Strategy and Policies (Regulation 19)

Ended on the 29 November 2024

Design Quality

11.81. High quality design is an essential element both in placemaking and in reflecting the distinctive character of the area and will help deliver the Spatial Objectives by setting challenging but appropriate standards. Achieving sustainable development is fundamental to the objectives of the Dudley Local Plan. Across the borough each area is distinct and successful place-making will depend on understanding and responding to their unique identities through high-quality and sensitive design proposals. Development proposals across Dudley will deliver successful urban regeneration and expansion through high quality design that provides economic, social and environmental benefits.

11.82. High-quality, innovative and modern design will also have a significant part to play in mitigating and adapting to climate change. This is achieved by ensuring that buildings and landscaping are designed to offer comfortable and attractive living environments reflecting the traditional design qualities and features of the area, while also addressing issues around climate change in the form of the use of green energy technologies, a reduction in carbon generation and the efficient and effective use of water, planting and materials.

Policy DLP39 Design Quality

  1. Development proposals must demonstrate that the following aspects have been addressed, through design and access statements that reflect their local context:
    1. Implementation of the principles of "By Design" to ensure the provision of a high quality network of streets, buildings and spaces.
    2. implementation of the principles of "Manual for Streets[32]" to ensure urban streets and spaces are designed to provide a high quality public realm and an attractive, safe and permeable movement network.
    3. use of the Building for a Healthy Life[33] criteria (or subsequent iterations) and the Residential Design Guide SPD for new housing developments, to demonstrate a commitment to achieve the highest possible design standards, good place-making and sustainable development.
    4. consideration of crime prevention measures and Secured by Design and Park Mark principles, in addition to the requirements of Part Q of the Building Regulations 2010 or any successor legislation.
    5. accordance with the agent of change[34] principle in relation to existing uses adjacent to proposed development sites.
  2. Development will be designed to the highest possible standards, creating a strong sense of place. Development proposals must address as appropriate:
    1. the townscapes and landscapes of Dudley.
    2. the need to maintain strategic gaps and views.
    3. the built and natural settings of development and the treatment of 'gateways'.
    4. Dudley's industrial and vernacular architecture and links with the wider rural hinterland.
    5. the need to ensure development has no harmful impacts on key environmental and historic assets (see Policies DLP 31, 32 and 55).
    6. where necessary, the issue of land instability in relation to specific development proposals.
  3. New residential development (including conversions from non-residential properties) and houses in multiple occupation will be required to meet water efficiency standards[35] of 110 litres per person per day, as set out in Part G2 of current Building Regulations 2010 or any successor legislation.
  4. All new residential development (including the conversion of buildings) and the creation of houses in multiple occupation will be required to meet the Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS)[36], except where it can be clearly evidenced that the implementation of the NDSS would cause harm to the significance of a heritage asset. The space standards will apply to all tenures.
  5. Major development proposals should contribute to the greening of Dudley by:
    1. including urban greening[37] as a fundamental element of site and building design.
    2. incorporating measures such as high-quality landscaping (including trees), other soft landscaping and planting, green roofs, green walls and sustainable drainage and conserving existing green spaces and natural resources.
    3. optimising the use of multi-functional green infrastructure (including water features, green roofs and planting) for urban cooling, local flood risk management and to provide access to outdoor space and shading.
  6. Development should reflect National Design Guide principle H1[38] in delivering functional, healthy and sustainable homes and buildings, particularly in relation to creating healthy, comfortable and safe internal and external environments.
  7. New developments should functionally integrate with existing urban areas, green infrastructure, and surrounding countryside. Development must not cause a detrimental impact on the living environment of occupiers of existing residential properties, or unacceptable living conditions for future occupiers of new residential properties, in terms of:
    1. privacy and overlooking;
    2. access to sunlight and daylight;
    3. artificial lighting;
    4. vibration;
    5. dust and fumes;
    6. smell;
    7. noise;
    8. excess heat or cold;
    9. crime and safety; and / or
    10. wind, where the proposals involve new development of more than eight storeys.
Justification

11.83. Dudley is made up of a range of urban and rural areas, settlements and towns across the borough, which all possess their own distinct character and identity. Successful place-making will depend on understanding and responding to these unique localities through the delivery of high-quality design proposals that are complementary to local character and vernacular.              

11.84. High-quality design will help to stimulate economic, social and environmental benefits, including ensuring that new homes and other buildings are designed and built to help to mitigate and minimise climate change impacts. Ensuring good design is embedded across Dudley will help support regeneration and the delivery of an inclusive and robust economy, attracting people and businesses to both relocate to and remain in the area.

11.85. The Government published an updated National Design Guide in January 2021 that set out a series of aims and objectives for achieving well-designed places. The document identified the key themes of good design and goes on to set out a list of ten characteristics[39]that drive it. Paragraph 36 of the Guide was clear that the ten characteristics reflect the Government's priorities and so provide a common overarching framework within which issues around good design should be considered.

11.86. In addition to the National Design Guide, Dudley is working on the Lye and Stour Valley Design Code to help improve the quality and design of new developments in the area. The Code will set out what is expected of new developments within the area to create a more beautiful and sustainable places for the community. The Design Code will form part of a supplementary planning document for Lye and Stour Valley. A design code will be developed for other areas of the borough during the Plan period.

11.87. The NPPF addresses the issue of good design throughout, including reference that permission should be refused for development of poor design that fails to take the opportunities available for improving the character and quality of an area and the way it functions. New development should also take a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach including respecting existing site constraints including utilities situated within sites.                           

11.88. Locally, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) have published a West Midlands Design Charter[40]. The Charter represents a regional commitment to good place-making and will be used to support applications for WMCA funding for new development (including residential, commercial and mixed use). Its key themes include:

  1. character;
  2. connectivity and mobility;
  3. future readiness;
  4. health and wellbeing;
  5. engagement;
  6. stewardship and delivery;
  7. which in turn encompass 12 further principles of good placemaking[41].

11.89. The Council will support urban regeneration by ensuring all new development exhibits high quality design. The DLP emphasises that the ideas and principles behind successful place-making and urban design will be a key factor in the renaissance of the borough. A high-quality environment is also an essential prerequisite for economic competitiveness and housing choice.

11.90. Great opportunities exist across the borough to transform areas into high quality places for people to live, work and invest in. This will involve, in some cases, the reinforcement or reinvention of a sense of place and local identity within Dudley. The borough needs a collective commitment to high-quality design if it is to maximise the benefits from the opportunities offered by regeneration and development.

11.91. DLP39 seeks to integrate key design principles with an approach that interprets and reflects both local distinctiveness and the overall character of Dudley Borough. High-quality design relates to buildings, architecture, the spaces within which buildings sit, the quality of the public realm reflected in its streets and spaces and the relationship between the development and the surrounding area. Places should be designed with Active Design principles to increase opportunities for physical activity.

11.92. Everyone has the right to a high standard of residential accommodation, with sufficient space to meet their needs. Within Dudley Borough there are areas where overcrowding rates are higher than the national average. In order to address this, Policy DLP39 adopts national space standards covering internal floor area and dimensions for key parts of the home. The standard is modest and is generally met in most new build housing across the borough; however, in a minority of cases the standard would help to achieve better living conditions. The requirement for a minimum space standard can also add to the attractiveness of a development and increase the marketability of properties. The standard will apply to all tenures. Evidence provided by the Dudley Viability Study suggests that introduction of this standard is very unlikely to impact on development viability, given the relatively modest increases in room sizes.              

11.93. The introduction of the higher water efficiency standard for all new homes in the borough is justified by evidence provided in the Water Cycle Study and in July 2021 by the Secretary of State's determination that both Severn Trent Water (except in their Chester zone) and South Staffordshire Water are now considered to be in areas of serious water stress for the purposes of water resources planning. This change in water stress classification adds further weight to the tighter limit and will be enforced through the building regulations system.

11.94. To ensure that development proposals accord with policy requirements, the Design and Access Statements accompanying planning applications should follow the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment guidance.

11.95. A key objective for new developments should be that they create safe and accessible environments where crime, or the fear of crime, and anti-social behaviour do not undermine the quality of life, health or community cohesion. Good design, layout and spatial relationships (including the use of sensitively designed and located landscaping that reduces opportunities for anti-social behaviours) can make a positive contribution towards improving community safety in an area. It is the intention of the Council and the police to work together towards the reduction of crime and the fear of crime, and anti-social behaviour across the borough. This will be a material consideration in all planning proposals.

11.96. Meeting the challenge of climate change is a core principle of the NPPF and the fifth principle of the West Midlands Design Charter refers to the need to address climate change through good design. Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures will be addressed through the specific climate change policies in the DLP and the renewable energy and BREEAM requirement for new development, which are set out in Policy DLP47.

Evidence
  • National Design Guide (2019)
  • Broadening Horizons – A Vision of the Black Country Urban Park, Lovejoy (2004)
  • Residential Design Guide SPD 2023
  • Housing Audit: Assessing the Design Quality of New Housing in the East Midlands, West Midlands and the South West, CABE (2007)
  • Black Country Water Cycle Study 2020

[32] Manual for Streets

[33] Building for a Healthy Life

[34] The NPPF states that both planning policies and decisions should ensure that new development can be integrated effectively with existing businesses and community facilities (e.g. places of worship, pubs, music venues and sports clubs). Unreasonable restrictions should not be placed on existing businesses because of development permitted after they were established.

[35] Sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency: Approved Document G

[36] Internal space standards

[37] e.g. landscaping, provision of formal / informal open space, habitat creation and improvement, tree planting, certain forms of infrastructure such as types of SuDS etc. in urban locations

[38] Or any succeeding guidance or legislation on design standards.

[39] Context; Identity; Built form; Movement; Nature; Public spaces; Uses; Homes and buildings; Resources; Lifespan.

[40] West Midlands Design Charter

[41] Regional Ambition; Local Distinctiveness; Regional Network; Modal Shift; Climate Resilience; Delivering Low Carbon Development; Technological Resilience; Building Active Communities; Promoting Wellbeing; Engagement; Stewardship; Securing Social Value.

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