Since starting to charge for design review in April 2011 following the end of regional funding there continues to be strong demand for the service.For those local authorities that have used design review since April charging has not proved a barrier.  Applicants have been quite willing to pay our modest fees to receive the valuable feedback our panel provides.

MADE have produced a simple leaflet to explain to potential applicants the benefits of using design review.  The leaflet is intended for planning officers to use when starting pre-application discussions with developers.  However, it could equally be used by architects and planning consultants to persuade their clients of the benefits of using design review. 

The leaflet can be downloaded from our libary page.

Further information can be found on our design review page.

Use of design review by local authorities to assess the design merits of schemes has been encouraged by a letter from the Chief Planning Officer in May and is included in the draft National Planning Policy Framework. See our earlier news item about this.