Warwickshire County Council has produced new guidance for developers and designers delivering highways improvements across the county.
The guidance has been created to make the process of delivering new and improved highway infrastructure more efficient and encourages the delivery of the highest quality developments in the county.
The ‘Warwickshire Design Guide’, published by Warwickshire County Council (WCC), provides developers and designers clear direction about how the wider transport issues and environmental impact of roads should be considered to meet accepted standards for any development.
Broadly setting out the whole process from start to finish, the guide covers pre-application advice, highway design and technical approval, as well as other important factors that need to be considered such as road safety, flood risk and potential impact on the historical environment. With a strong focus on sustainability, there are clear requirements for developers to use future-facing elements, such as sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), biodiversity offsetting, LED streetlights and electric charging points.
By providing this information in a clear and accessible way for developers and designers, it will help to mitigate unexpected delays to development work throughout the process and result in the delivery of safe, sustainable and accessible developments for all.
Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning, Cllr Wallace Redford, said: “By clearly setting out the Council’s expectations in the ‘Warwickshire Design Guide’, we hope this will make the entire process of delivering the highway infrastructure associated with developments as clear and simple as possible for everyone involved.
“We recognise that there needs to be a certain degree of flexibility when designing developments, and this is something we actively encourage, however as our priority is to ensure the safety of all those in Warwickshire, there is an emphasis on the need to ensure that flexible design of developments is not done at the expense of highway safety.
“I would strongly encourage all developers and designers to look at the guide as early in the process as possible and to follow the recommendations. By doing this we can ensure a consistent approach towards achieving higher quality layouts across the county that will result in improved safety, sustainability and accessibility of built developments that will endure for generations.”
The new guidance has been produced in conjunction with key stakeholders, including developers, designers, district and borough councils and elected members. It supersedes ‘The Warwickshire Guide 2001 – Transport and Roads for Developments’.
Annual reviews will be carried out to ensure the guide is up to date and reflects any new trends and local or national policy changes.
The design guide can be found at https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/warwickshiredesignguide.
