Village Design Guides

A new generation of rural design guidance

Since 2018, we have been working with eight villages in the district to develop new Village Design Guides, funded by central government. The purpose of this project is to raise the quality of new planned development and support inclusive, sustainable growth. The new Village Design Guides will, once adopted, be material planning considerations as Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs).

We are currently consulting on the draft Village Design Guide SPD for Histon and Impington.

We recently consulted on the draft Village Design Guide SPDs for Caldecote, Fulbourn, Gamlingay, Over, Papworth Everard, Sawston and Swavesey. The six week public consultation period closed on 31st May. Representations will be published shortly.

Background to the project

In 2018 we secured funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to develop 6-8 new-look Village Design Guides in a trailblazing collaboration with village communities. It has allowed us to fund expert design consultants to work with village representatives in developing effective, forward-looking guidance, breaking new ground in co-creating policy with local communities.

A Village Design Guide describes the distinctive character of the village and sets out guidelines for how this should be enhanced by new developments. It helps communities and planners shape the character of new development in your area, in response to community priorities. It is a way to provide more locally specific detail, which augments and amplifies our Local Plan policies.

Learning from the most successful approaches to village design guidance, our new Village Design Guide SPDs will be:

  • Concise and visually led- providing clear and unambiguous guidance
  • focused on the priorities of the village community, ensuring that the full diversity of community views are included.
  • design focused – looking at how buildings, streets, spaces landscape and materials come together to create areas with distinctive identity and character.
  • a forward-looking document – aiming to make new development the best quality it can be, encouraging appropriate, creative design approaches. Seven of the draft Village Design Guides are now available for public consultation. There are a number of ways that you can comment:

Histon and Impington Draft Village Design SPD: Public Consultation

  • The Histon and Impington Draft Village Design Guide SPD is now published for six week public consultation which runs from 19 June 2019-31 July 2019. A drop-in exhibition will be held at the St Andrews Centre, Histon, on 1 July 2019, 4-8pm.

Consultation Documents

Draft Histon and Impington Village Design Guide SPD
Histon and Impington Village Design Guide Equalities Impact Assessment
Histon and Impington Strategic Environmental Assessment Screening Report
Habitats Regulations Assessment screening report
Public Notice

Have your say

There are a number of ways that you can comment:

  • Alternatively the consultation response form can be printed, completed by hand and posted to us (our postal addresses are on the consultation response form)

Note: Representations, including names, will be available to view on the Councils’ websites. Full representations including addresses will also be available to view on request. Our privacy notice for planning policy consultations and notifications sets out how your personal data will be used and by whom.

Draft Village Design Guides – consultation closed

Consultation is now closed for the following draft Village Design Guides. Representations will be published shortly and if you have commented on the draft Guides, you will be automatically notified.

What happens next?

Following the consultation, the comments received will be considered and amendments made to produce the final Village Design Guide SPDs. This will then be taken to committee at the Council for approval. The SPDs will be published on the Council’s website, and used to inform future planning decisions.

How can I be kept informed?

Individuals and organisations can opt-in to receiving future mailings in relation to the Village Design Guide SPDs by logging in to the South Cambridgeshire District consultation database and choosing the ‘areas of interest’ that you would like future mailings about. When you log in, you will find the list of ‘areas of interest’ under ‘My Details’.

Contact Details

vds@scambs.gov.uk 01954 713310 Special Projects Officer Consultancy Team, South Cambridgeshire District Council Twitter Facebook

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