Summary

This session will look at the North Northamptonshire growth area which consists of seven Garden Communities – four consented and three in the planning stages.  These are expected to provide a combined total of in excess of 25,000 dwellings. It will look at the policies and practice that the North Northants Joint Planning and Delivery Unit, working across 4 Local Planning Authority Areas, are using to push for design quality, particularly on landscape led masterplans, use of Design Review Panels,  Building for Life 12, different ways of bringing in design expertise into public practice, and our emerging Place Shaping North Northants website.  It will also focus on the challenges to quality and where we hope we could see improvements in planning applications – particularly landscape concepts, better integration with SuDS, and making sure that landscape shown on plan is actually delivered!  The session will also use, as a detailed case study, Tresham Garden Village, which is one of the 12 in the Garden Villages Programme where a collaboration with the promoters has helped develop a landscape led masterplan, an ecosystems systems services assessment and very detailed work around street design and long term management of green infrastructure. 

• Have an appreciation of the methods local planning authorities can use in large scale development to advocate for quality 
• Understand what planners need at what stage of the planning process to be sure of quality. 
• Understand how a small new settlement of 1500 homes can be exemplary with the right ingredients in place.