How do you co-ordinate a planning permission for ESP developments?
How do you co-ordinate a planning permission for, say, 150 homes where each resident is an individual developer, decision maker and partial designer of their property?
The ESP-sim project sets out to answer this tricky question.
Well for starters, we are looking at the existing planning system, to see how it can already support ESP without the need for reform. Our instinct is t0 encourage the use of an instrument called local development orders or LDOs, which would allow pre-approval of certain types of development based on some prescriptive design rules or codes. To find out more about this, read Alastair Donald’s post under planning category.
Secondly, and we are developing the Youcanplan software to store these design rules and support multi user online community consultation. An enabling developer would be able to consult with the future residents who want new homes, and with existing neighbouring communities also. Youcanplan software would show the consultees what the development is looking like, whilst also allowing everyone to have an individual say in the design of their individual house and that of the community. The software would also report on compliance to regulatory requirements such as Code for Sustainable Homes, which is now needed in order that planning permission is granted.
Crtically, Youcanplan will be able to simulate possible outcomes based on consumer choice, so a local authority can take comfort in approving a scheme by publishing a LDO referencing the design rules and codes used in the simulation.
In fact by directly coupling these two elements, the planning permission linked to the online software, we think planning permission can be granted with some confidence in achieving quality, sustainable developments as the outcome.
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