Wealden Design Guide
Supplementary Planning Document
The purpose of the Guide is to encourage a higher standard of design for development within the District. Wealden District is predominantly a rural district and is larger than most, encompassing a number of well defined areas whose character is drawn from the local landscape and building materials which derive from that landscape.
These elements contribute significantly to the local distinctiveness and it is the aim of this document to ensure that new development (in particular the larger schemes) does not dilute this distinctiveness. This Guide is not only intended to provide prospective developers (and any organisation and individual with an interest in the built environment) with a clear idea of what it is about Wealden which makes it special but also to suggest ways in which new development can be implemented in a manner which maintains the District’s essential character and, where practicable, enhances it.
Status of the Wealden Design Guide
The Wealden Design Guide has been adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) as part of the District Council's Local Development Framework (LDF) and, as such, the guidance will represent an important material consideration in the determination of planning applications. The Council will expect all planning applications to demonstrate how these guidelines have been taken into account; where appropriate this should be included in the Design and Access Statement submitted with the application.
The Guide also needs to be considered in relation to existing and emerging national planning policy, design codes and advice and standards set down in the Building Regulations and other documents. The Guide does not intend to reiterate the standards set out in these documents and developers and their agents should refer to the relevant regulations and good practice guides as a matter of course.
View the Document
Each section of the guide can be viewed as pdf by clicking on the link to the relevant section heading. Please note that there may be a 2 to 5 minute delay for the document to open depending on the size.
Wealden Design Guide:
Front Cover (176kb)
Foreward (48kb)
Contents (73kb)
Section 1 - Introduction (147kb)
Section 2 - Character Zones and Local Distinctiveness (1.08mb)
Section 3 - Landscape, Trees and Wildlife (3.9mb)
Section 4 - Sustainability (2.37mb)
Section 5 - Character Appraisal of Sites and their Settings (2.92mb)
Section 6 - Design and Access Statements: A Guide for Applicants (1.32mb)
Section 7 - New Residential Development (10.64mb)
Section 8 - Designing the Public Realm (4.02mb)
Section 9 - New Non-Residential Buildings (2.52mb)
Section 10 - Residential Alterations and Extensions (3.01mb)
Section 11 - The Re-Use and Conversion of Rural Buildings (4.78mb)
Section 12 - Alterations and Extension Listed Buildings (4.38mb)
Section 13 - Shopfronts and Signage (3.52mb)
Section 14 - Telecommunications Equipment (1.35mb)
Adoption Statement
A copy of Wealden District Council's Adoption Statement under Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004 is available to view.
Consultation Statement
The Consultation Statement sets out a summary of the main issues raised in representations made on the draft Wealden Design Guide together with a commentary on how these have been addressed in the final version of the document.
Summary Leaflet
This provides a short summary of the nature and content of the Design Guide. A copy of
this leaflet is also available at the Council Offices.
Other Formats
You can request a hard copy of the Wealden Design Guide for which there will be a charge of £45.00 to cover printing and postage costs. In addition, a CD will shortly be available to purchase, the cost of which will be £5.00 (including postage and packing). Please contact the Policy Team for further details (see below).
Further Information
Please contact the Planning Policy Team on 01892 602452 or email ldf@wealden.gov.uk if you require any further information on the Wealden Design Guide.