Sep/Oct 2023

14
South Woodford Village Gazette
Pathway to Design
Pearl Arbenser-Simmonds reports on a busy year for the South Woodford
Pathfinder Group as they begin to finalise their work producing a local
design code. But your input is still needed
It has been a hectic 12 months and a bit
of a rollercoaster ride since we were
selected as one of the Department for
Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
(DLUHC) Design Code Pathfinders in
March 2022. We spent that time working
in conjunction with JKA Architects, Azuko,
DLUHC and Locality, with some support
from Capita. The programme officially
ended in May 2023 with the production
of a draft design code. However, we are
continuing to work on the code with the
invaluable support of DLUHC, Redbridge
officers and native north architects.
The South Woodford Neighbourhood Forum
was one of just four neighbourhood groups in
England to have been selected to participate
in this groundbreaking programme, to
help us set our own standards for design
locally. It’s all part of the government’s
plans to level up across the country. The
Design Code Pathfinder Programme aims to
empower communities to have their say on
the development of new homes, buildings
and amenities in their area and help restore
people’s pride in the places they live.
Design codes are important because they
provide a framework for creating healthy,
safe, sustainable and distinctive places, with
a consistent and high-quality standard of
design. This can provide greater certainty
for communities about the design of
development and bring conversations about
design to the start of the planning process
rather than the end. The built environment
has a significant impact on health and
well-being. It needs to feel safe and secure
for all, including those who could be more
vulnerable. Creating beautiful places requires
a greener approach that supports progress
towards national environmental goals. This
means more energy-efficient buildings, well
designed public spaces, enhancing nature and
delivering progress towards meeting the netzero
carbon target by 2050.
We have regular meetings with Redbridge
Council officers as we work to refine various
aspects of the code following meetings with
TfL and various other stakeholders. We are
also continuing to work on the website to
allow us to host a fully digital code. We hope
to have the design code draft completed
in time to allow us to run an engagement
campaign this September. For those of you
who may have been involved in the previous
engagement campaign, you will be invited to
participate again, but the process is open to
everyone living within the Neighbourhood
Forum boundary area (see website).
Now the design code work is almost
complete, this has allowed us to pick up the
Neighbourhood Plan again, with a view to
completing both pieces of work within a
year. Once again, we would ask if anyone
has any skills they would be happy to
share – particularly web design and content
management – please do reach out to us.
For more information on the design code,
visit swvg.co.uk/dc
To advertise, call 020 8819 0595 or visit swvg.co.uk