Policy CC1: Context and Character. This policy aims to preserve and enhance the character of neighbourhoods in Hounslow. It requires developers to understand and respond sensitively to an area's character, and the council will support proposals that do this. The policy applies to all development proposals in Hounslow, and the council will resist proposals that do not respect the area's character.
Plain-English summary of the adopted policy text below. The full text is the rule; this is the gist.
We are taking this approach because
6.1 Successful, legible and loved places are those that provide a character that is easy to understand and relate to, and that buildings and the spaces created should help reinforce or enhance the character, legibility, permeability and accessibility of the neighbourhood. The council shares the aspiration in the London Plan that the city should delight the senses, take care of its buildings and streets, and have the best of modern architecture, whilst making the most of its heritage assets.
Hounslow | Local Plan
6.2 The council has produced an Urban Context and Character Study which has identified, described and assessed the character and quality of the borough across its 11 study areas. This is a key part of the evidence base, which through extensive field survey work, historical research and input from local amenity groups, has identified areas in terms of design quality, sensitivity to and likelihood of change and suitability for tall buildings. In some areas, the character is welldefined with high-quality buildings and spaces that require cherishing and preserving, and where any change should be sensitive to this established character. In other areas the character is less defined, more mixed and generally lower quality, where opportunities to improve the character should be welcomed. A map of these areas can be found in the Urban Context and Character Study and will be subject to periodic updates.
6.3 The study also assists developers in understanding where a place has come from, where it is now, and where it is going and helps guide development proposals to respond sensitively to an area’s character.
context and character policy cc1 context and character Supporting facts
Hounslow | Local Plan
How context and character is considered at the national, London-wide and local levels
• The NPPF makes it clear that local authorities should develop policies that are rooted in an understanding and evaluation of an area’s defining characteristics.
• The London Plan Policy 7.4 and SPG on Context and Character sets out how LPAs must identify areas of different character and which ones should be protected, sustained and enhanced.
• The London Borough of Hounslow Urban Context and Character Study (2014) has established 232 character areas identified across 10 discrete study areas and one cross-cutting study area covering the entire borough. Each character area was surveyed, described, assessed and a response formed, covering which ones should be conserved, enhanced or transformed.
context and character policy cc1 context and character Notes
Context can be defined as the way in which places, sites and spaces interrelate with one another whether physically, functionally or visually, or the way in which they are experienced sequentially and understood.
Context is essentially ‘what’s there’.
Character is created by the interplay of different elements, including the physical or built elements that make up the place, the cultural, social and economic factors which have combined to create identity, and the people associated with it through memories, association and activity. If context is essentially ‘what’s there’, character is ‘what it’s like’.
Hounslow | Local Plan
context and character policy cc2 - urban design and architecture
Hounslow | Local Plan
Our approach
We will retain, promote and support high quality urban design and architecture to create attractive, distinctive, and liveable places.
We will achieve this by
(a) Ensuring proactive urban design forms an integral part of council development plans, programmes and processes, and prioritising design guidance for areas of change and intensification;
(b) Working with applicants at an early stage (pre-application) to guide and shape the design of development proposals;
(c) Reviewing built and proposed developments, decisions and advice to help raise design standards and awareness of the value of good design;
(d) Working with housing providers to improve the design of estates as part of wider regeneration programmes;
(e) Working with local communities to understand and improve the urban design of their areas through, for example neighbourhood plans; and
(f) Using good practice guidance such as By Design, the Urban Design Compendium, the Mayor’s Housing Design Guide, Mayor’s Housing SPG, and Building for Life assessments.
We will expect development proposals to
(g) Understand, integrate and where possible add to the natural landscape; including the topography, geology, existing features, landscape context, local flora and fauna and wider ecological setting of an area.
Schemes should ensure that trees are suitably sited, protected during detailed design and construction, and provide amenity for the long term through effective maintenance arrangements;