Design review and the planning system in Wales

The Well-being of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015 aims to improve and promote design quality - Design Review is key to this.

by Jen Heal

Great places are the aim of the planning system in Wales with design 1. excellence and placemaking firmly at the heart of Planning Policy Wales and Future Wales: the national plan 2040, the national development framework, published in 2021. There is a clear requirement that ‘everyone engaged with or operating within the planning system in Wales must embrace the concept of placemaking’.

In addition to this, Wales is one of the first nations to have a Minister for Climate Change, meaning that the environment is also at the heart of all decision making. Good design and sustainable placemaking are therefore inextricably linked and supported at a national and policy level, but at a more local level there are significant challenges.

The majority of the 25 local planning authorities in Wales have few resources in terms of internal design expertise. This means that evaluating design quality and rationale can be a huge challenge.

However, the Design Commission for Wales, established and funded by Welsh Government, provides a national Design Review service that can help address this gap. With the aim of improving design quality, the review service is open to all and free to use. From major infrastructure projects to individual dwellings in a National Park, the service allows for early, strategic, and ongoing opportunities for clients, designers, developers and local planning authorities to seek an independent view and draw on the multidisciplinary expertise of the panel – all of whom are practitioners.

Ideally, the review process is used at an early stage in the development of a project to allow for constructive input that can help to shape proposals well in advance of pre-application consultation or an application being submitted. Identifying this window of opportunity is critical as early decisions can have a significant impact on the direction of the design. Often a project’s interaction with the planning system comes too late in this process and those early opportunities can be lost.

The Design Review service is operated in the context of our commitment to good placemaking and to the goals of the Well-being of Future Generations Act (Wales). The aim is to improve and promote design quality, so it is important that it is a constructive rather than critical process. The service enables designers, developers and local authorities to take a step back and benefit from the external perspective of experienced professionals on the panel.

The panel is always keen to see whether a robust design process has been undertaken to inform the proposals, including site and context analysis and a clear design vision. Beauty or ‘style’ is never the focus of a review, but appearance is considered in the context of wider placemaking considerations including character and distinctiveness. The aim is for a more objective appraisal that considers key questions such as – does it work, is it good, does it contribute positively to the character of the place, will it last – rather than the more subjective ‘do you like it?’ Overall, we are looking for opportunities to enhance long term public value and this is particularly important in projects funded from public money.

Landscape is an integral part of many projects that we review, but is often overlooked at the early stages when there are opportunities for strategic input. We regularly recommend the earlier involvement of landscape architects to inform the design strategy rather than leaving the role of the landscape architect to work with the pieces ‘left over’. The expertise of the landscape architect has an important role to play in matters such as informing site layout, green infrastructure integration, boundaries, definition of public and private space, and the transition from outside to inside. For major projects, we also encourage use of tools such as Landscape Visual Impact Assessments as part of a creative approach to design rather than a tick box process.

Of course, our Design Review service isn’t a magic wand, but it is a helpful expert resource and a good alternative when planning authorities don’t have the necessary design capacity in-house. The Placemaking Wales Charter now has over 110 signatories and is accompanied by our Placemaking Guide and the Places for Life II publication which highlights good design and placemaking.

Jen Heal BSc (Hons) MA, MRTPI An urban designer and planner, Jen is a Design Advisor at DCFW and a fully accredited member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI).