Create Streets are working with Cheshire West and Chester council to develop a design code that clearly defines what ‘good looks like’ in the borough. The design code, structured around the National Model Design Code will set clear rules to guide sustainable development that ‘feels of its place’, supports happier and healthier lifestyles and delivers the council’s ambition to be the champions of good design, both of new places and in the retrofit of existing streets.
Our work to date has been supported by an extensive consultation process to understand common design challenges in the borough, the types of places and development people like or don’t like and the reasons why. This has included:
- 42 structured one-to-one interviews and 12 workshops and site visits with council planners and highways team.
- Our create communities survey with 604 responses.
- An online visual preference survey of streets and buildings with 201 reponses.
- Four in-person ‘pop up’ events in Ellesmere Port, Chester, Northwich, and Winsford with 458 attendees.
This engagement has helped shape the focus of the code with a clear steer on a need for cleaner, greener and safer streets and developments that respects the areas rich heritage.
Our team are busy working on the design code for Cheshire West and Chester to set out what ‘good looks like’ for new development. Rooted in local heritage and shaped by ‘wide’ and ‘deep’ consultation through workshops, on-line surveys and in-person pop-up events, the code will help deliver greener, healthier and more beautiful places across the borough. The code is currently being drafted and should be out for statutory consultation by early next year.
Client: Cheshire West and Chester Council
Timescale: 2024-on-going.
