Replacement Calderdale UDP : Adopted 25 August 2006 (as amended August 2009)

Replacement Calderdale UDP : Adopted 25 August 2006

• Foreword
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Calderdale in Context
• Strategic and Core Part One Policies
• 3 Guiding Principles and Key Themes
• 4 Employment, The Economy, Tourism and Regeneration
• 5 Housing
• 6 Retailing and Town Centres
• 7 Open Space, Sport and Recreation Facilities
• 8 The Built and Historic Environment
  • The Contribution of Design to the Quality of the Built Environment
  • Piecemeal Development
  • General Design Criteria
  • Privacy, Daylighting and Amenity Space in New Development
  • Landscaping of New Development
  • Safety and Security Considerations within New Developments
  • Design and Layout of Highways and Accesses in New Development
  • Provision of Safe Pedestrian Environments in New Development
  • CCTV and Area Lighting Schemes
  • Access and the Provision of Public Conveniences and Baby Changing Facilities in New Development
  • Art in Public Places
  • Telecommunications Development
  • Advertisements
  • The Historic Built Environment
• 9 Transport
• 10 Infrastructure, Education and Community Facilities
• 11 Natural Environment and the Countryside
• 12 Environmental Protection
• 13 Minerals
• 14 Waste Management
• 15 Monitoring and Review of the Plan
• Annex A Privacy, Daylighting and Amenity Space
• Annex B Trees On or Adjacent to Development Sites
• Appendix 1 National Planning Policy
• Appendix 2 National Minerals Policy
• Appendix 3 Supporting Published Documents
• Appendix 4 Glossary of Terms
• Appendix 5 Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Appendix 6 Policy Topic Index
• Appendix 7 Policy Number Comparison
• Appendix 8 Supplementary Maps

Safety and Security Considerations within New Developments

8.13 It is vital that crime prevention measures become a key consideration in all areas of land use planning.The importance of reducing crime and its impact on society has been reinforced by Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act (1998) which places a duty on local authorities to consider the crime and disorder implications of all their functions. This impacts on all areas of land use planning, but specifically can relate to the design and location of new development including housing and other forms of development. Crime prevention is capable of being a material consideration in determining planning applications.

8.14 Safety and tackling the fear of crime is an important issue in Calderdale. The Council has therefore included ‘creating safer communities with lower crime levels, less fear of crime and safer roads’ as a corporate priority (June 2002). The Council is a partner in the Calderdale Community Safety Partnership, which has published the Calderdale Safer Communities Strategy 2005-2008. In addition, the Council has worked with the West Yorkshire Police and other West Yorkshire local authorities to prepare the document ‘Designing for Community Safety, A Residential Guide’.

Designing Out Crime

8.15 Crime prevention has an important role to play in achieving the overall aims of the UDP and needs to be considered in all development proposals. Much can be done to reduce opportunities for crime through the careful consideration of the design, layout, lighting and landscaping of new development (the sections relating to the design of highway and pedestrian routes are contained in Policy BE 5 ‘The Design and Layout of Highways and Accesses’ and Policy BE 6 ‘The Provision of Safe Pedestrian Environments’). Crime prevention features should be incorporated into the design process at an early stage.

8.16 In considering the issue of crime, developments should incorporate the principles of ‘Secured by Design’ and should reflect both the safety of people and the security of property. ‘Secured by Design’ is the national police scheme that aims to minimise crime and the opportunities to commit crime, primarily through employing more security conscious building design methods. The scheme principally aims to make communities feel safer and more desirable places to live. Further information can be obtained from the website www.securedbydesign.com. Any design solution should remain sensitive to local circumstances and there should be a balanced approach to design which attempts to reconcile the visual quality of a development with the needs of crime prevention. Developments can be made secure without resorting to razor wire, grilles, bars, unsightly types of fencing and other visually intrusive security measures, if safety and security is considered at an early stage of the design process.

8.17 Developers should, prior to submitting detailed proposals, seek advice from the West Yorkshire Police Architectural Liaison Officer on designing out crime, and any recommendations received should be incorporated into the development proposal unless these conflict with other significant interests (for example, the interests of Listed Buildings). Developers are also encouraged to submit statements in conjunction with planning applications that emphasise the measures taken to design out crime.

8.18 There are two basic principles which are applicable to any attempt to reduce crime through urban design:-

1. the integration of natural surveillance into the development by ensuring that the design and layout of buildings and estates allows for people to see, and thus monitor communal areas such as streets, footpaths and open space as well as the front doors of other buildings. An important aspect is that hiding places and dark or secluded areas should be avoided. Adequate lighting is essential so as to allow for effective surveillance at night; and
2. the integration of defensible space into the development so that all spaces are clearly defined and adequately protected in terms of their use and ownership. Defensible space is essentially concerned with the adoption of techniques that engender a feeling of territoriality, thereby allowing people to feel that they have control or influence over the use of space around them. This is achieved by defining the various areas of public and private space using real and symbolic barriers such as fencing, gates, narrowed entrances and changes in road surface texture and colour. Generally, when people are empowered with a feeling of ownership of the space around them they will police and look after their own area of private space, so that  the public and intruders know when they are intruding on private property.

8.19 In order to ensure that the objectives of natural surveillance and defensible space are achieved developments should be designed having regard to the following principles:-

• buildings should be designed to allow for overlooking of streets, footpaths and public open space wherever possible;
• long areas of blank street frontage should be avoided;
• separate traffic-segregated footpaths within new housing developments should be avoided unless they can be seen from nearby housing;
• cars should preferably be kept in garages, behind lockable gates or in secure car parks, but where this is not feasible consideration should be given to the security and the siting of car parks and open spaces so that they are visible from surrounding buildings;
• the development should be adequately lit, in particular streets, footpaths and communal areas (although care should be taken to avoid light pollution, for further information refer to paragraphs 12.10 to 12.13);
• Closed-circuit television surveillance (CCTV) should be incorporated where appropriate, and in particular of car parks;
• mixed-use developments should be considered as these help to maintain activity 24 hours a day;
• Neighbourhood Watch schemes should be promoted and supported;
• consideration of crime issues should be included in landscaping and planting schemes, and in particular hiding places and dark or secluded areas should not be created;
• external doors/frames/fixings/locks, ground floor windows and those windows that are accessible by climbing, should meet the requisite Secured by Design recommendations and British Standards;
• there should be a clear demarcation between public and private space by either physical barriers such as walls, fences or other means of enclosure or through changes in surface treatment;
• use of appropriate building and paving materials and street furniture should be used which are durable and resistant to vandalism;
• the number of points of access into a development and the number of through routes should be limited, direct, and encourage connectivity  where appropriate; and
• appropriate fencing and other means of enclosure to discourage general public access should be provided.

8.20 The principles of the following Policy apply:-

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