General Design Criteria
8.4 The townscape and landscape of Calderdale are dominated by a local building character comprised predominantly of local natural stone with stone or blue slate roofs together with a vernacular style that reflects its historic influence. These characteristics contribute to a local distinctiveness which should be maintained and not diluted by developments which do not reflect and enhance the identity of the locality. It is particularly essential that this concept is applied within the rural South Pennines landscape as advocated in ‘A Heritage Strategy for the Southern Pennines’ published by the Standing Conference of South Pennine Authorities (SCOSPA) in 2001.
8.5 New buildings can have a significant effect on the character and quality of an area. Buildings should be designed to complement the traditional character and local distinctiveness of an area by respecting the character of the surrounding built form, paying particular regard to scale, density, building lines, materials, and fenestration. In particular, materials should be used in development proposals that complement the surrounding buildings in terms of form, colour and texture. New developments which are out of scale or whose broad design is incongruous when set against existing buildings on the site or surrounding area will be opposed. This does not preclude buildings of innovative or contemporary design, which will be supported where they complement local architectural styles, adjoining buildings and the street scene.
8.6 Developers should aim to achieve a high quality of design and landscaping and create places that are attractive, safe, accessible and people friendly. Higher densities and more intensive development are being promoted, particularly on brownfield sites through PPG3, in the drive to make more effective use of land and buildings. Residential development should take particular care in the design, layout, orientation and location of buildings, so that no unacceptable loss of amenity results due to the effects of overlooking or overshadowing. In order to be able to assess the design implications of planning applications for complex or large scale development proposals and those involving sensitive sites or buildings, developers are required to submit perspective plans which show the proposal in its wider context within the street scene and design and access statements to justify and explain the design concept and its accessibility.
8.7 Where appropriate, the Council will seek to provide new Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) to provide design guidance. Development proposals will need to take into account any relevant SPD together with the criteria set out below:-
Policy BE 1
General Design Criteria
Development proposals should make a positive contribution to the quality of the existing environment or, at the very least, maintain that quality by means of high standards of design. Where feasible development should:-- respect or enhance the established character and appearance of existing buildings and the surroundings in terms of layout, scale, height, density, form, massing, siting, design, materials, boundary treatment and landscaping;
- retain, enhance or create any natural and built features, landmarks or views that contribute to the amenity of the area;
- be visually attractive and create or retain a sense of local identity;
- not intrude on key views or vistas;
- not significantly affect the privacy, daylighting and amenity of residents and other occupants;
- incorporate landscaping and existing trees that contribute significantly to the amenity and nature conservation value of the local environment as an integral part of the development site’s design and where appropriate incorporate locally native plants and create wildlife habitats;
- be energy efficient in terms of building design and orientation; and
- include consideration of the needs of security and crime prevention.