Dec 2010 - South Worcestershire Development Plan

SOUTH WORCESTERSHIRE ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT 201083and or achievement of 10 points for minor developments, along withmeeting ‘Life Time Homes’ standards. The assessment applies only tonew build housing, rather than conversions or other types of buildingsand therefore there will have been schemes of good quality design thathave not been considered.8.11 Future assessments will include larger schemes, and coverage ofWorcester City will provide a greater variety and scale of development.However, from the initial assessment there is clearly room forimprovement. Developments have tended to perform best on the‘Environment/Community’ section and ‘Character’ and less well on‘Streets, Parking and Pedestrianisation’ and ‘Design and Construction’.With the latter, the smaller scale of the schemes has led to a low scoreon public realm and also in terms of sustainable build features giventhe tighter economies of scale. Particular criteria which developmentshave not met are the need for buildings to outperform statutory minimaand the need for flexible design to allow for adaptation, conversion andextension.8.12 With the introduction as mandatory of Level 3 of the Code forSustainable Homes for all housing, it should be possible to monitor thenumber of homes in South Worcestershire that achieve differing Codelevels in the future.8.13 Wychavon District Council recently adopted a Residential DesignGuide Supplementary Planning Document on 7 September 2010. Theprimary aim of the guide is to improve the overall quality of built designwithin Wychavon by providing the necessary guidance in one easy touse reference document. The document encourages:• locally distinctive design;• design that respects and enhances local character;• design that incorporates contemporary and sustainableapproaches to development; and