Wiltshire Design Guide formally adopted

Wiltshire Council's Design Guide, which will help to ensure future developments in the county are consistently of a high-quality design, was approved for adoption by Council on 20 February and is now a supplementary planning document.  

The guide has been structured around the '10 characteristics of good design', as described in the National Design Guide. These characteristics help to ensure that all aspects of good design are considered appropriately in the design stages of new developments and not just focused on the appearance of new buildings.

As a Supplementary Planning Document the Wiltshire Design Guide is afforded weight in the determination of planning applications. It provides new, locally-authored design guidance that would apply across Wiltshire at a level of detail that does not exist in the national equivalent. The guide sets expectations for new developments giving clarity to developers on what is needed.

The draft guide went out to public consultation for six weeks between 3 July and 14 August 2023. In total, 157 responses were received from individuals and organisations, raising more than 1,200 points for the council to consider. Where appropriate, the Wiltshire Design Guide has been amended to address the responses received.

Cllr Nick Botterill, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, said: "After a lot of hard work and a really useful consultation exercise,  I'm pleased we have been able to finalise this important document. The Wiltshire Design Guide represents a step change in our approach and will help ensure that future local developments of whatever sort are consistently high quality and in keeping with what we'd expect in our beautiful and unique county.

"The guide will complement existing and important planning documents such as our Local Plan, Neighbourhood Plans and Village Design Statements. It will also help us to achieve what we've set out in our Business Plan, particularly in helping create a resilient society, a thriving economy and a sustainable environment."