National Planning Policy Framework, Chapter 14: Achieving well-designed places (DP1–4)
This is Chapter 14 of the National Planning Policy Framework.
Applies to England
The objective of the policies in this chapter of the National Planning Policy Framework is to promote high quality, healthy, inclusive and sustainable places, through setting clear expectations about design outcomes and the use of relevant tools and processes.
Plan-making policies
DP1: A strategy for design
1. Development plans should, at the most appropriate level, set out clear design expectations by:
a. Ensuring the vision for the plan reflects the desired design and placemaking outcomes. This should be informed by an evaluation of the area’s existing characteristics and potential, and proactive engagement with communities and other interests;
b. Identifying where design guides, design codes and masterplans are necessary to deliver design and placemaking outcomes, such as for significant site allocations and areas of change (e.g. town centres, regeneration areas and suburban areas where there is scope for intensification);
c. Setting out locally-specific design policies or standards which are necessary to add further detail to the principles in policy DP3, in response to particular local issues which will benefit from clear design expectations; and
d. Setting out in what circumstances design review and other design processes will be required.
2. Guidance on applying this policy is set out in the Design and Placemaking planning practice guidance.
DP2: Local design guides, design codes and masterplans
1. Where design guides, design codes and masterplans are necessary, these design tools should:
a. Reflect a clear understanding of and address the character of the site or area which they cover, the wider context and opportunities to strengthen existing character;
b. Be informed by an understanding of the economic, social and environmental context and conditions for implementation, including through effective community engagement so that local aspirations are taken into account;
c. Include a level of detail and degree of prescription proportionate to the circumstances and scale of change proposed; and
d. Be supported by monitoring and review processes that allow for necessary adjustments in the light of implementation.
2. Model Design Codes can support the preparation of local design codes and should be used for this purpose where they exist for relevant development types.
National decision-making policies
DP3: Key principles for well-designed places
1. Development proposals should respond to their context (the history, character and features of their site and its setting), so that they integrate with and enhance their surroundings; such as through the arrangement of development plots and buildings, the use of materials and architectural features, and the restoration, reuse and integration of heritage assets. This should not preclude innovation or change where appropriate, especially where an increased scale or density of development is justified in accordance with policies L2 and L3.
2. To create well-designed places, development proposals should also reflect relevant aspects of the following principles, as appropriate to the nature of the development and its location[footnote 45]:
a. Liveability: support healthy, mixed, vibrant and integrated communities, which will function well over the lifetime of the development, by incorporating a range of uses and tenures, employing features which promote social interaction, and which are robust, durable and easy to look after;
b. Climate: contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation and the transition to net zero by using building layouts, building orientation, massing, landscaping and materials which conserve energy and other resources, and which minimise risks from the impacts of climate change including overheating;
c. Nature: incorporate and/or connect to a network of high quality, accessible, multi-functional green infrastructure to provide opportunities for recreation and healthy living, strengthen habitats, improve climate change resilience and improve air and water quality. This should include maintaining and enhancing tree cover and incorporating sustainable drainage systems in accordance with policies N3 and F8;
d. Movement: provide transport infrastructure and choices which support the design vision for the site, provide good connections to the wider settlement (or those nearby), and prioritise walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport;
e. Built Form: use the pattern of buildings to define the arrangement of streets, squares and other spaces, promote compact forms of development to optimise the site’s potential, distinguish between public and private areas, create focal points and, where appropriate, enhance views into and out of the scheme;
f. Public Space: include spaces that are safe, secure, inclusive, and accessible for all ages and abilities, including for groups such as women and girls; and which facilitate and encourage social interaction, play and healthy lifestyles (for example by providing high quality, clear and legible pedestrian and cycle routes, a variety of recreational spaces and places to meet, integrating lighting and making building entrances and windows face onto streets and other public spaces to provide natural surveillance); and
g. Identity: create visually attractive, distinctive and characterful development to establish or maintain a strong sense of place and pride, including through the use of a coherent palette of materials, design features and planting.
3. Development proposals should be refused if, without clear justification, they conflict with paragraph 1 of this policy or relevant aspects of the principles in paragraph 2, or with any explicit design standards set out in the development plan (including those in locally-specific policies, guides, codes or masterplans). Substantial weight should be given to compliance with relevant development plan policies when assessing the design quality of proposals.
4. The principles set out in the Design and Placemaking planning practice guidance should be used to inform how this policy is applied in the absence of locally-produced design policies, guides, codes or masterplans.
5. Substantial weight should also be given to outstanding or innovative designs which promote high levels of sustainability, or which help raise the standard of design more generally in an area, so long as they are consistent with the overall form and layout of their surroundings.
DP4: The design process
1. Design quality should be considered throughout the evolution, assessment and delivery of development proposals, including through any pre-application engagement; as outlined in Part 2 of the Design and Placemaking planning practice guidance.
2. The local planning authority should:
a. Ensure that they have access to, and encourage the appropriate use of design review and other design tools and processes (especially for strategic sites and other significant projects), and take into account their outcomes, including any design recommendations made by design review panels;
b. Ensure that relevant planning conditions refer to clear and accurate plans and drawings which provide visual clarity about the design of the development, including the approved use of materials where appropriate; and
c. Not allow the quality of approved development to be materially diminished between permission and completion, as a result of changes proposed following its initial approval (for example through changes to approved details).
This is Chapter 14 of the National Planning Policy Framework
Continue to Chapter 15: Promoting sustainable transport (TR1–8).
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Footnotes
45. Principles for creating well-designed places are described more fully in Part 1 of the Design and Placemaking planning practice guidance, points a to g in this policy forming the seven features of well-designed places described in the guidance, all of which are informed by context (paragraph 1). ↩