A Design and Access Statement must accompany both applications for outline planning permission and full applications for planning permission, and generally will be required for all planning and listed building consent applications except applications for planning permission only for:
- A material change of use of land and buildings, (unless it also involves operational development);
- engineering or mining operations;
- householder developments: statements are required for applications where any part of a dwelling house or its curtilage fall within one of the following designated areas:
- Site of special scientific interest
- Conservation area
- Area of outstanding natural beauty
A design and access statement is a succinct report accompanying and supporting a planning application that should seek to explain and justify the proposal in a structured way. The level of detail required in a design and access statement will depend on the scale and complexity of the application, and the length of the statement will vary accordingly. The design and access statement should cover both the design principles and concepts that have been applied to the proposed development and how issues relating to access to the development have been dealt with. A design and access statement should be proportionate to the complexity of the application, but need not be long.
What is required in a design and access statement is set out in article 4C of the General Development Procedure Order 1995. The statement needs to set out the design principles and concepts that have been applied to the development and how issues relating to access to the development have been dealt with. An explanation of the design will include reference to the following aspects of the development:
i) amount;
ii) layout;
iii) scale;
iv) landscaping; and
v) appearance; and
demonstrate the steps taken to appraise the context of the development and how the design of the development takes that context into account in relation to its proposed use and each of the aspects above.
In addition the design and access statement shall also —
| (a) |
explain the policy adopted as to access, and how policies relating to access in relevant local development documents have been taken into account; |
| (b) |
state what, if any, consultation has been undertaken on issues relating to access to the development and what account has been taken of the outcome of any such consultation; |
| (c) |
explain - |
|
(i) how any specific issues which might affect access to the development have been addressed;
(ii) how prospective users will be able to gain access to the development from the existing transport network;
(iii) why the main points of access to the site and the layout of access routes within the site have been
chosen; and
(iv) how features which ensure access to the development will be maintained. |
Guidance on Design and Access Statements has been produced by CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) -
Design and Access Statements -How to read, write and use them.
