Issue - meetings

The report of the Director – Development and Economic Growth is attached.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)           the draft Rushcliffe Design Code Supplementary Planning Document for a six-week period of public consultation be approved; and

b)           the Director – Development and Economic Growth be granted delegated authority to make any necessary minor editing changes to the Supplementary Planning Document prior to consultation.

The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing, Councillor Upton presented the report of the Director – Development and Economic Growth, which provided an update on the Rushcliffe Design Code Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

Councillor Upton confirmed that it was a legal requirement for all Council’s to produce a Design Guide, and that it must reflect the local character, to carry weight in decision making, and should be produced as either part of the Local Plan or as an SPD. Councillor Upton stated that SPDs formed a material consideration in decision making and had significant weight, providing they had been prepared within statutory procedures, and been subject to public consultation. The new SPD would replace the Rushcliffe Residential Design Guide and provide a set of rules against which planning applications would be assessed. The SPD was detailed at Appendix 1 to the report and available as an interactive web-based version, which was designed to make the code easier for everyone to navigate. Councillor Upton stated that following its publication, the draft Code would be subject to a six-week public consultation, and it was hoped that the Code would be adopted in April/May 2025. In conclusion, Councillor Upton thanked officers for their hard work and dedication, in particular the Project Manager and the Planning Policy Manager, and Harper Perry Architects for their invaluable expertise.

In seconding the recommendation, Councillor Brennan supported and welcomed this document and felt that it would be very useful to everyone going forward, with the web-based version being very helpful. Councillor Brennan referred to the considerable housing growth across the Borough, some of which had not being sympathetic to existing settlements, and she hoped that this SPD would help the Council to improve design quality. Councillor Brennan hoped that this would be a baseline, rather than an ambition and agreed with the idea of zones and hoped that any new development would be sympathetic to those areas.      

The Leader reiterated the thanks given to officers for the immense amount of work undertaken to produce this Guide.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)           the draft Rushcliffe Design Code Supplementary Planning Document for a six-week period of public consultation be approved; and

b)           the Director – Development and Economic Growth be granted delegated authority to make any necessary minor editing changes to the Supplementary Planning Document prior to consultation.