16/07/07 - Swindon Conservatives To Deliver New Design Codes

Swindon will be a much better presented town in the future thanks to the council's design codes.

Swindon Council said it is pleased that its 36th promise has been delivered on time as its design guide and separate shop front coding guidance was adopted by the Planning Committee last December.

The promise states: "By 2006 we will publish Swindon Design Codes that will ensure a high quality of development. They will incorporate the very best practice and guide all new developments so that we have control over the future look and feel of the borough. This will include guidelines for shop frontages."

Homes and offices that are built in the town will be part of the town's fabric for decades, and the council says it is vital they are attractively designed in good quality materials.

They must also be sympathetic to the architecture that surrounds them, as new developments which clash with the style and quality of buildings nearby can ruin an area.

It is also essential for Swindon's future competitiveness as a town that it has attractive homes and buildings, and that the built environment signals the town's ambitions.

Coun Peter Greenhalgh, the Cabinet member for planning, highways and transport, said: "The design guides are a clear signal to developers that we won't accept second rate buildings in the future in Swindon.

"So much of a town's character is determined by the standard of what people see around them, and we are determined to avoid the mistakes of the past.

"The design guides now mean that we can move away from a time when we were forced to approve developments that weren't bad enough to disallow, but frankly weren't good enough to match what we want for Swindon. That's now changed."

Prospective Parlimentary Candidate, Cllr Justin Tomlinson, "As local residents we understand the need to tighten up design codes to safeguard the aspirations of the town.  For too long Labour allowed developers to dictate development, selling Swindon short."