Design Strategy SPD

Thurrock Design Guide Design Strategy SPD Adopted March 2017 i The Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) was adopted by Cabinet in March 2017, and is a material consideration in the determination of planning applications. It provides detailed guidance for the application of policies in the Core Strategy including Policy PMD2. It is therefore an important document in helping to deliver the spatial vision and objectives of the Core Strategy, particularly in terms of ensuring that new developments are of a high design quality and respond appropriate to the local context. 2 Thurrock Design Guide Design Strategy SPD Contents 1. Introduction 5 2. The Importance 3. Designing in of Good Design Context 9 19 4. Place Typologies in Thurrock 43 5. The Development Process 65 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 72 3 4 Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Grays Thurrock Design Guide: Design Strategy SPD 1. Introduction Setting a Design Standard for Thurrock The main aim of the Design Guide is to 1.1 Thurrock’s character and personality has 1.5 formed and evolved over centuries as improve the overall design quality standards agriculture, industry and the river have shaped of development in Thurrock, enhancing the landscape, the make-up of its people and perceptions of place and reinforcing a strong the quality of life. sense of civic pride. In order to achieve this the Council will: 1.2 With a population of around 160,000, Thurrock » lies on the River Thames immediately to the Provide clear guidance on the Council’s east of London, and is home to some of the expectations regarding the design most exciting opportunities in the country. approach to be adopted in Thurrock Thurrock hosts three international ports » including London Gateway and the Port of Work proactively with the development Tilbury, which are at the heart of global trade industry to bring forward proposals in a and logistics. It is strategically positioned on the timely and effective way having regard to M25 and A13 corridors with excellent transport statutory policy requirements links west into London, north and east into » Lead by example through the design Essex and south into Kent. and implementation of Council-led development projects in Thurrock 1.3 Thurrock has one of, if not the, largest and most ambitious growth programmes in the country, with over £6bn of investment driving the creation of 26,000 new jobs and 20,000 new homes over the next 20 years. With that many additional people choosing Thurrock as a place to live, work and play, the need has never been greater to strengthen the identity of Thurrock as a destination and to ensure that all new development is sustainable and contributes towards the creation of healthy communities. 1.4 This Design Guide is the first of many steps the Council and its partners need to take to substantially raise design standards across the borough. 5 Understanding Thurrock as a place 1.6 The character of a place strongly influences people’s perception of an area. It not only plays a fundamental part in the quality of the local surroundings in which people live and work, but also establishes an overall image. Many factors contribute to the character of the area, including the scale and design of buildings and their settings, the surrounding landscape and countryside and the impact of road traffic schemes. 1.7 Thurrock has often been described as a place of contrast and it is home to a number of paradoxes with busy towns and picturesque villages framed by an established industrial backdrop along the River Thames. 1.8 The built up areas of Thurrock vary quite considerably from turn-of-the-century development related to the borough’s early commercial growth to large inter-war and post-war suburban housing schemes, riverside developments pepper-potted with industrial and residential uses, large retail parks and contemporary housing schemes. For the most part, the development of new communities in the borough has been in response to major business growth. Tilbury was designed and expanded to provide homes for people working in the Port; East Tilbury Bata estate developed to support the Bata shoe factory, which came to Thurrock from Czechoslovakia; and cottages were developed throughout Purfleet to support the riverside industries. 1.9 The historic environment of Thurrock has over the years continued to have a powerful influence on people’s quality of life by promoting civic pride and a sense of local identity. Important local architectural, archaeological and landscape features such as the forts, the medieval parish churches and Bata village all highlight the area’s unique history. In terms of designated heritage assets, the borough has 7 Conservation Areas, 243 Listed Buildings, 17 Scheduled Ancient Monuments and 23 Ancient Woodlands. 6 Thurrock Design Guide: Design Strategy SPD 1.10 Thurrock’s countryside is also varied in character. It has areas of traditional landscape, particularly along the Thames to the east of Tilbury where historic and social influences have determined its use and development. It includes woodlands, meadows, wetlands and other wildlife habitats of nature conservation value. Much of the borough’s character is naturally flat, open marshland, largely due to its location on an old river terrace of the Thames. These vast open spaces have a wild and windswept character that is accentuated by broad expanses of sky. 1.11 Because of its geology, the borough has, for centuries, been a source of mineral resources, including sand, gravel, chalk and clay. As a result, Thurrock has a history of mineral extraction and subsequent tipping operations which have drastically altered the landscape in localised areas. There are now many areas of the borough in which enhancement of the landscape is needed specifically to address the legacy of these activities, particularly where restoration of the land has been poor or lacking. However, there are some areas where the processes of natural regeneration have had time to restore the landscape and local wildlife habitats. 1.12 The River Thames features prominently in the historical development and present- day character of Thurrock and remains a major asset in terms of its industrial and transportation roles, with attendant employment and economic benefits, and also because of its amenity value. Thurrock’s river frontage extends some 18 miles from Aveley Marshes in the west to the former oil refinery at Coryton in the east of the borough. Although the Thames is visible from many distant vantage points, the traditional commercial uses of the river frontage have tended to deter significant access by residents to both the water surface and the river banks in some locations. Moving forward there is a desire locally to see access to the river for residents improved. 7 Contemporary social housing development - The Echoes, Grays Thurrock Design Guide: Design Strategy SPD Understanding the people Using the Design Guide of Thurrock The population of Thurrock is relatively young 1.13 1.16 The Design Guide is an adopted Supplementary with a large proportion of the population of Planning Document (SPD) and is a useful tool to working age. Nearly a third of households are inform and assess proposals at all scales, from families and lone parents with dependent small infill sites through to larger developments children. With the current housing market, this including major regeneration schemes. A range means more young people are living at home of more detailed design guide documents that for longer and unable to move on from the include specific design standards will support family home. The older population, in particular, the Design Guide SPD. is projected to grow significantly in the next twenty years, moving more in line with the 1.17 The Design Guide is set out over four main national average, placing additional pressures sections: on housing and social care services. Section 2 - provides an overview of relevant national design policy and guidance which 1.14 In Thurrock, the general health of the population is good,with a below-average Thurrock Council will use in assessing and number of residents experiencing long-term determining proposals. health conditions or disabilities. However, at the local level there are clear health inequalities, Section 3 sets out Thurrock Council’s with life expectancy in the most deprived requirements regarding assessing the context areas more than eight years lower for men of a site, including a checklist of key questions and seven for women than those living in that will need to be addressed as part of the the least deprived locations. There is a high design process. The section is illustrated rate of obesity for both children and adults, with examples from within the borough and compounded high levels of inactivity and elsewhere. unhealthy eating. Section 4 gives detailed guidance on the special characteristics of each of the five broad place 1.15 Good design can play an important role in creating healthy, inclusive and active typologies. Again, this section is illustrated communities. For example, positive with examples from within the borough and placemaking can lead to reductions in health elsewhere. inequalities including obesity by encouraging Section 5 provides a checklist of pre- physical activity through the use of active submission, submission and post-submission streets, open spaces and integrated leisure design requirements that Thurrock Council facilities. Planning can also facilitate will expect in support of planning application social interaction which in turn can lead to proposals. improvements in mental health and general well-being. 1.18 Failure to comply with the relevant local and national design policies would result in a planning application being recommended for refusal. More information on these policies can be found in Section 2. 9 10 War memorial provides a unique focal point – Civic Square, Tilbury Thurrock Design Guide: Design Strategy SPD 2.

Load more