Forest of Dean District Council is inviting residents and communities to share their views on what they believe makes the area such a great place to live, in turn helping to shape the Forest of Dean Residential Design Guide.
The design guide will make it easier for the council to assess whether the design of new homes meets the standards residents expect from developments in their area and enables the council to reject planning applications that don’t meet these design guidelines.
Councillor Tim Gwilliam, leader of the council, said “Nationally, there have been many discussions on the need to make sure that new homes and other developments contribute to local identity and provide a standard of design that will stand the test of time.
“We want to push hard to raise local design standards, helping to ensure that we can protect the beauty of the Forest for years to come.
“We know of the pride that people have in the local area and understand that local views of the places and spaces we value must inform this Residential Design Guide. That is why we invite all residents of the Forest of Dean to submit their thoughts, photographs and ideas and help us shape the future of the Forest.”
The power to reject applications for design reasons alone enables Forest of Dean District Council to make sure that new designs celebrate, protect and even enhance local character.
To help inform of the new standards of design, the council are updating the Residential Design Guide and would like residents to help create this by explaining what they believe makes their parish, village or town special and distinctive.
In the first round of surveys, the Council invites people to submit photos of what they think are good looking and bad looking housing developments in their area. All photos will then be assembled to give an overall picture of each distinct place, area, parish, village or town.
All residents can get involved and have the chance to show off what they love about the Forest and share with others to see what they may have missed before.
The council website also includes updated web pages where residents can find out more about what a Local Plan is, why the Council has to produce a plan and how they can be involved.