Communities and Local Government written question – answered at on 9 October 2006.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will encourage local planning authorities in the Thames Gateway to create a design advisory panel with statutory consultee status which would be required to offer an opinion on the design quality of significant development proposals, including at the planning stage.
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) is the Government's statutory adviser on architecture, urban design and public space. CABE is a non-statutory consultee in the planning process.
The Department funds CABE to provide a free Design Review service to disseminate best practice to developers, design teams and planning authorities in England. This service offers expert independent assessment of proposed schemes at an early stage of the planning process. Local planning authorities are encouraged to submit schemes to be reviewed if they are strategic because of their scale or location, or if they set standards for future development.
Since January 2004, CABE's Design Review programme has handled over 100 cases from the Thames Gateway local authorities, including several schemes of strategic importance such as Barking Riverside and The Warren at Woolwich Arsenal.
The Thames Gateway Forum is looking at other ways to strengthen design in the gateway.
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