Layout and design quality - avoiding road-dominated schemes

Poor quality residential developments have often been designed with little appreciation for local character or a sense of place and have tended to be dominated by road considerations. They also fail to take account of the need to present an attractive outlook; properties have backed onto nearby roads or other public areas and created unsightly views. Emphasis should be on the layout of houses and other buildings rather than on road layout in order to achieve an improved design quality and promote a sense of place. All buildings should be located and orientated to front onto existing and proposed roads to present an attractive outlook. The Council will expect to see greater variety introduced into schemes so that the spaces between houses include tree-lined avenues, crescents, mews, courtyards, lanes and greens. A network of roads and paths should then be considered in turn, reflecting the role of a particular street within a broader road hierarchy. Such networks should achieve sustainable movement while ensuring that standards of road safety are not compromised.