Bilston WMCA UR Roadshow

8000 miles dreaming

Best Practice Placeshaping

Use of design Tools

The development process

Panel member

An event by Urban Design London

Addressing Design Inequality

Design has a significant impact on our quality of life, and as urban designers we hope that our work makes places better for people. However, the Place Alliance National Housing Audit 2021 found that new development is overwhelmingly “mediocre” or “poor” and that less affluent communities get worse design. In the last couple of years we have seen an increased policy focus on the design with the launch of the National Model Design Code and strengthened wording on design in the National Planning Policy Framework. Inequality has also been highlighted through the leveling up agenda, and this will only become more stark as we face the cost of living crisis and increasing pressures on public services. This conference seeks to explore the theme of “design inequality”. What are the current measures being implemented to address it? How are they being implemented on the ground? Where are the opportunities and challenges for the future?

BOOK HERE

Programme

10:00 Welcome

10:15 Matthew Carmona, Professor of Planning and Urban Design at The Bartlett School of Planning, UCL.

Matthew will discuss Place Alliance research on the intersection of design, development and the planning process. He will touch on the National Housing Audit which found that poorer communities get worse design;  the critical public sector design deficit identified in their 2021 research in partnership with Design Council and the Urban Design Group; and the changing picture around design based appeal decisions following the adoption of the National Model Design Code and changes to the NPPF. Followed by brief audience Q and A.

10.40 Dr. Jenny Thomas Head of Built Environment, Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities and Nicholas Boys Smith - Founding Director of Create Streets.

Jenny is the lead official responsible for the Office for Place, set up within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to help create beautiful, healthy, successful and enduring places that foster a sense of community, local pride and belonging. Nicholas is chair of the advisory board for the Office for Place. They will provide an update on the work of the Office for Place, including the progress of the Design Code Pathfinder projects. Followed by brief audience Q and A.

11.05 Amandeep Singh Kalra · Associate Director at Be First
Be First is a pioneering urban regeneration company wholly owned by Barking and Dagenham Council, but operating independently. Amandeep will speak about his experience taking part in the government’s Design Code Pathfinder programme. He is exploring how the National Model Design Code process can be “hacked” (adapted to local circumstances) to evolve design policy in a way that ensures sustainability and inclusivity in the Becontree Estate, an interwar housing estate of 27,000 homes. He will also touch on the advantages of the working relationship between Be First and Barking and Dagenham’s planning department. Followed by brief audience Q and A.

11.30 BREAK

11.45 Dr Laura Alvarez - Senior Principal Urban Design and Conservation Officer at Nottingham City Council. Laura will give an insight into the challenges and opportunities of developing and delivering high standards of design policy at a Local Authority level, providing a perspective outside of London and the south east. She will touch on how her work seeks to ensure equitable outcomes for people living in different areas and socio economic contexts. Followed by brief audience Q and A.

12.10 Panel discussion with all speakers including extended audience Q and A. 

12:50 Closing remarks.

An event organised by Urban Design London

This session will explain what the current Bill says about place design, housebuilding and the use of design codes and guides and how this relates to the latest government guidance, research and best practice. It will help consider how changes might relate to your own work and priorities. Including:

• Overview of the Bill’s planning and design contents

• Discussion on impact of consultation and committee stages

• Advice on how to prepare to implement changes once in force

BOOK HERE

An event organised by Urban Design London

We will look at what you need as an organisation to be in the best place to deliver place design including the skills and capacity of your teams, digital tools, design codes and resources at your disposal and how your organisation can champion good design. Including:

• How to gauge your own capacity and capabilities

• Options for growing your own expertise

• How best to precure and use external input

BOOK HERE

An event organised by Urban Design London

An event organised by Urban Design London

This is a closed event, the Landscape Institute East Midlands Branch AGM 2022.

The Nottingham experience: DQF and Co-PLACE

To register for the event click here

Title: Nottingham Design Quality Framework: establishing process-led design criteria

Synopsis – Laura has been working in developing a city-wide guide that addresses the National Design Guide at a local level: the Design Quality Framework. She will tell us how the city council set up to do this, how they lined it up with other guides and policies, how the use it in practice and how it is most beneficial to influence design quality during the planning stages. Laura will show us some practical application examples.

To see the agenda click here.

This year RICS will be addressing the shape of the planning bill, the new design codes, the transformation of the high street, biodiversity net gain, RICS guidance notes, among other fundamental topics for our planning and development surveyors to remain compliant and successful.

SESSION: Building Better Building Beautiful – what does it mean?

Beauty, health, well-being and sustainable growth are becoming fundamental terms in the planning and development sector but what do they effectively mean and how can we better incorporate the use of high-quality design into existing and new stock?

 This session will explore:

•             Creating better places

•             Design Codes

•             Modern methods of construction

View recording by clicking here

With a move to a design-led planning system in England, the question of design skills and approaches in our local authorities looms large. Join us for this lunchtime launch of a major new report from the Place Alliance examining design skills and design governance approaches in England’s local planning authorities. Funded by the Urban Design Group and supported by the Design Council, the research will report on:

• Design capacity in local planning

• Funding and recruitment challenges

• The use of design review, design codes and proactive community engagement in design

• The use of design guidance and training

Recommendations for Government, the emerging Office for Place and local government will be made.

Chair: Laura Alvarez  Nottingham City Council, Senior Principal Urban Design and Conservation Officer

Speakers

REPORT PRESENTATION
Matthew Carmona  The Bartlett, UCL and Chair of the Place Alliance

RESPONSES
Joanna Averley  Chief Planner MHCLG

Nicholas Boys-Smith  Create Streets and Office for Place Transition Board Chair

Alan Stones  Former editor Essex Design Guide and Head of the Essex Design Service.

To book click here

Exploring how codes work with both automatic and express planning permissions and other possible changes to the planning system.

This session will help local authority officers/councillors consider plan for the future by discussing possible ways the planning system might change and how their design coding and guide work might help them manage change.

Agenda

• What might the future look like according to the planning white paper

• Other systems explained

• Panel discussion – what does all this mean for local authorities?

Speakers

• Rory Stracey, Trowers and Hamlins LLP

• Matthew Carmona, UCL

• Kosma Nykiel, LB Hounslow

• Laura Alvarez, Nottingham City Council

• Selina Mason, Lendlease

• Carol Bristow, Swindon Borough Council

• Peter Garitsis, Swindon Borough Council

To book click here

Looking at what needs to happen before, during and after Codes and Guides are written and who is responsible for what. This session will help local authority officers/councillors understand the practical side of creating good codes and guides, likely time-line and the resources/skills/staff capacity required to deliver.

Agenda

• The code and guide production timeline – an end-to-end process

• Who will use a design code?

• Skills and staff capacity needed

• Lessons from the front line – tips and trips encountered

• Q & A

• Exercise –Process Jigsaw

Speakers

• Trovine Monteiro, Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service

• Jane Manning, Allies and Morrison

• Laura Alvarez, Nottingham City Council

• Louisa Facchino-Stack, Public Practice

• Andrew Taylor, Countryside Properties

• Vicky Payne, Urbed

• David Rudlin, Urbed