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Home Zones Guidance Consultation

New build schemes

6.68 There are clear advantages in establishing a Home Zone as an integral part of a new development. Such an approach provides scope to ensure that Home Zone measures are built into the scheme from the start. The process is likely to be quite different from schemes where measures are introduced to an existing housing area. The following key steps are intended to guide the planning and implementation of new build schemes.

Redevelopment of the former Dundee Royal Infirmary
is creating Scotland's first new build Home Zone.

Step 1 Promote the Concept

6.69 Local authorities have a key role to play in raising developers' awareness of the concept of Home Zones. Local planning authorities should include policies on Home Zones within their development plans. National policy guidance outlines the need for policies which consider transport and land use in an integrated way (NPPG17) and which focus on the quality as well as quantity of housing areas (NPPG3). Home Zones provide an important way of meeting these objectives. Inclusion of Home Zone policies, and identifying potential Home Zone sites, within development plans, provides an important way of achieving early consultation on new build schemes.

6.70 Planning authorities should therefore consider the extent to which:

• a general policy supporting the concept of Home Zones could be included in the plan, as a means of encouraging developers to make use of the concept;
• more specific policies relating to sites which have been allocated for housing could be provided. Such sites might be identified on the basis of issues in the surrounding environment, natural features, topography or anticipated social composition; and
• the extent to which standards and criteria for residential developments might be altered when applied to a Home Zone scheme. This might be an incentive for developers to make use of the concept, particularly where site ratios could be improved as a result of better use of space or reduced parking requirements.

Step 2 Planning guidance/brief

6.71 It is now widely recognised that the development control process has a key role to play in positively promoting sustainable development. There is considerable scope for the development control process to be used as a tool for actively encouraging the development of Home Zones.

6.72 The revised NPPG3 Planning for Housing identifies a range of tools that can be used by local planning authorities in realising this aim:

• design guides: relating to specific types of development or aspects of the process;
• local design statements: for holistic approaches to neighbourhood planning; and
• development briefs: for larger scale sites, drawn up either by the local planning authority or by the developer. The brief can set out requirements relating to layout, important features of the site, and architectural styles.

6.73 Planning authorities should also consider the extent to which planning agreements¹ could be used to secure elements of the Home Zone. Broader guidance on the use of planning agreements emphasises that they should be closely linked to the development itself, and can be used either to overcome barriers to development or to secure benefits as part of the scheme itself. In the case of Home Zones, planning agreements could be used, for example, to secure assistance from developers to provide appropriate planting or specific road surfacing.

Dundee City Council's development brief established the foundations for the Home Zone initiative.

Step 3 Pre-application discussions

6.74 Local authorities should seek to open dialogue with developers early in the design and planning process. Pre-application discussions can help to ensure that the developer is able to incorporate Home Zone principles before the design of the scheme is fixed. Initial discussions should lead to outline proposals for the Home Zone.

Step 4 Outline proposal

6.75 Preparation of an outline planning application for the scheme will provide a focus for discussions between the local authority and the developer. Such proposals should consider the opportunities and constraints offered by the development site, and potential design responses.

6.76 As with the retrofit schemes, a Home Zone within a new development is only likely to work if it is sufficiently responsive to local circumstances. The scheme will be developed as an integral element of the wider development proposals. Issues to consider during the design process include:

• the type of housing which is to be provided by the scheme, and the characteristics of its likely occupants. If family homes are being provided, for example, play areas are likely to be beneficial. If the development is targeted at older residents, social areas are likely to be a more appropriate solution;
• the topographical and infrastructural constraints and opportunities of the site. For example, if the site is exposed or has an unfavourable microclimate, the design could incorporate sheltering, which in turn will encourage people to spend more time in the street. Alternatively, the site may be close to a road which has high levels of fast-flowing traffic, in which case gateways and entry points may require special consideration; and
• if nearby areas are experiencing problems which a Home Zone could help to address, they may be anticipated in relation to the new development area and built into the plans and proposals. For example, there may be parking pressure from people living outwith the area in existing neighbouring areas, and this is may be mirrored in the Home Zone if it is not adequately considered and addressed.

6.77 The outline proposals should be fully discussed and agreed prior to the submission of more detailed designs. Submission of an outline planning application provides an opportunity for wider consultation on the proposal to create a Home Zone.

Step 5 Detailed design

6.78 A more detailed design should now be prepared by the scheme developer. A multi-disciplinary design team is likely to be required to meet the challenge of designing a high quality Home Zone.

Outline proposals for the Dundee Royal Infirmary Home Zone.

6.79 The detailed design should include the following components:

• gateways marking entrances to and exits from the Home Zone;
• traffic calming measures within the scheme;
• extent of shared space and its treatment;
• on-street parking provision;
• location and nature of planting;
• location and nature of any formal play facilities;
• street lighting arrangements; and
• key pedestrian and cycle routes and links.

6.80 The detailed design should take the following into account:

• results of swept path analysis to ensure occasional access by emergency services, removal vehicles, etc.;
• more regular access requirements for refuse vehicles, etc.;
• implications for older people, disabled people or visually impaired people; and
• maintenance requirements and ability to fit within existing maintenance regimes.

Step 6 Marketing

6.81 Developers can make use of the Home Zone status of a development as a positive selling point. There is some anecdotal evidence emerging from the English pilot schemes that schemes have had a positive impact on property prices where retrofit schemes have been undertaken. It is likely that new build Home Zones will prove particularly attractive for families.

6.82 Planning authorities therefore, may wish to provide support in the preparation of marketing material associated with the development. Such material could identify the main aims and features of the Home Zone and their likely benefits for potential residents. Where possible, plans and artists impressions should be used to bring the concept to life. It is important that incoming residents are aware of the Home Zone and its implications.

Step 7 Implementation

6.83 Building on the development control process, the implementation of the Home Zone scheme should be accompanied by ongoing liaison between the local authority and the developer. This can help the design to incorporate appropriate solutions at a detailed level, which are only likely to become apparent as implementation progresses on the ground.

6.84 Local authorities should continue to provide specialist support at this stage in the process. Road engineers, lighting specialists, landscape architects and planners can each play a role in ensuring that the proposal results in the development of an effective scheme on the ground.

Step 8 Occupation

6.85 Ideally, monitoring of the scheme (see below) should begin as soon as the properties begin to be occupied.

Step 9 Monitoring

6.86 The more evidence that Home Zones bring benefits for residents, the more likely it is that developers, and in particular the larger companies of house builders, will take forward additional schemes for other sites. New build Home Zone schemes, though not providing scope for an assessment of 'before and after' conditions, can be monitored in a number of ways, including:

• assessing the extent to which residents' motivations to move into the area resulted from its Home Zone status (through survey questionnaires or focus group discussion);
• comparison of traffic or social characteristics with neighbouring or nearby established areas; and
• monitoring of behavioural patterns of residents, and assessment of levels of satisfaction, through survey work, observational analysis, etc.

Footnote

1 As supported by Section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1997

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