St Cuthbert’s Garden Village SPD

Hyas was appointed to prepare the SPD (having supported the Council since 2017 on the St Cuthbert’s project) and worked with the Council to outline what the SPD needed to achieve, including:

Providing additional details of strategic requirements, that need to be in place to support a comprehensive, high quality new community.
Presenting a framework to guide the preparation and determination of future planning applications, ensuring that they are of the highest quality and in keeping with the Vision and principles for St Cuthbert’s.
The creation of the Strategic Design SPD helps the Council to positively engage with prospective developers within the garden village, ahead of the proposed adoption of the St Cuthbert’s DPD. Promoting a positive planning process built on collaboration, the SPD establishes the Council’s expectations for site specific masterplanning and design quality, informing the approach to and content of future planning applications and subsequently approved development. The SPD promotes an approach to comprehensive place making, by defining the key structuring and place making elements necessary to underpin good design and delivery – providing a clear basis on which to develop detailed proposals in a coordinated way.

To promote the timely delivery of development and meet housing need, it was necessary to prepare the SPD in a relatively short timescale, whilst at the same time seeking to ensure a strong level of engagement.