topic - urban-design-group.org.uk

CASE STUDY
Beacon Quality in Chelmsford
Roger Estop describes the approach to obtain higher standards
of development
Chelmsford used its Beacon year to highlight what urban design
means in a local planning authority in day-to-day practice. We
concentrated on two themes: firstly getting better quality housing
development and secondly, generating good public realm experiences in
streets, parks, waterways and public buildings.
The responsibility for achieving well-located, well-designed places
falls to the local planning authority working with developers. It is
a multiple challenge – rapid delivery of housing, more affordable
homes, good design, higher densities and new ways of building. Urban
designers in a local authority have a distinctive role – anticipating
sites, setting the place-making objectives and guiding development
forward via briefs, negotiation and enabling action.
Chelmsford lies just outside the major growth areas proposed by the
sustainable communities plan, but nevertheless faces a growth target of
about 700 dwellings per year for the next 15 years. The borough council
has embraced the dual challenge of higher densities and better quality
and embedded urban design in its working practices. It has secured
better quality housing on green field and brownfield sites, in numerous
schemes of between 30-500 dwellings.
Awarded Beacon Council status for quality of the built environment,
Chelmsford has spent a year disseminating good practice to other
councils - hosting conferences and visits, building a website and
mentoring. The calendar kicked off with four urban space tours in last
year’s urban design week and culminates in this year’s week with a
study school with Anglia Polytechnic University. The council shared
this privilege with the other two Beacon Councils for quality of the
built environment, Cambridge and West Dorset.
SUBURBAN EXPANSION
Chelmsford’s suburban expansion was undistinguished until the
1980s when influenced by the Essex Design Guide. Chelmsford built
up its confidence in design and established a proactive approach
to development. This was possible, firstly, through the eventual
recognition by councillors that urban intensification goes hand in
hand with design, a commitment expressed by a design champion at
member level; secondly, through investing in a team of people with
urban design skills and dedication to the area, including a public realm
planner and graphic designer; and thirdly, cross-service team working
between planning, highway adoption, housing and parks professionals.
This makes all the difference to achieving better results in major
developments. It helps that Chelmsford is prepared to adopt new green
spaces and that the highway engineer is a creative member of the
team.
A major step change was putting in place the procedures for
producing, approving and following-up supplementary planning
guidance. The planning brief is the key urban design tool for
influencing development proposals early. Where development is
anticipated, planning briefs set principles and help unlock complex
urban sites. We found that if a brief is well tuned to the site
circumstances, context and concept-led, in time, succinct and graphic,
36 | Urban Design | Autumn 2004 | Issue 92