Report calls for more “beauty” in the planning system

“to secure the home healthy, the house beautiful, the town pleasant, the city dignified and the suburb salubrious”

Aims of the Planning Act (1909)

An interim report entitled “Creating space for beauty” published by the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission (BBBBC) demands that “great weight” should be placed on securing beauty in the planning system, and outlines how the poor-quality design and build of homes and places in England should be tackled.

The ‘Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission’ was set up in November 2018 to tackle the challenge of poor-quality design and build of new homes and places across the country. The Commission will gather evidence from both private and public sectors to develop practical policy solutions to ensure the design and style of new developments, including new settlements and the country’s high streets, help to grow a sense of community and place, and find a way to ensure that “as we build for the future, we do so with popular consent”. The Commission is expected to fill a similar role to that played by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) which was merged with the Design Council to become Design Council CABE in 2011.

Identifying eight priorities for reform, the Commission has defined its remit as beyond that of merely raising the standard of design in buildings themselves, instead interpreting “beauty” as “Beauty at three scales” – “beautiful buildings”, “beautiful places”, “beautifully placed”.

Specifically, the report states that “great weight” should be placed on securing beauty in the planning system, with communities given an early and more effective voice in the planning process to help end identikit homes and “boxland” developments into “finely grained” mixed use developments of homes, retail and commercial uses.

The commission states that Local authorities should be encouraged to publicise “ugly” designs that they have denied planning permission and used as examples to encourage beautiful design.

Importantly, the report also states that communities should have a more effective say in their area’s housing plans, with the public becoming involved during the masterplan process rather than engaging in “planning by appeal”. Read our recent take on community engagement in planning here.

The Commission’s final report is due to be published by the end of the year.