Release date: 1 April 2011
Today the Design Council launches a national consultation on the future of National Design Review, Local Design Review, and related design support. The announcement comes on the first day that the Design Council officially merges with CABE and adopts its independent charitable status.
The consultation, which will run from April to June, will elicit a wide range of industry views to assess how best to drive high-quality design at the heart of regeneration, renewal and community planning. It will inform a root and branch review of CABE services, which will include recommendations of new market models for design reviews and design support that meets the needs of the public and communities in the UK.
The review will be authored by Peter Bishop, visiting professor in Architecture and the Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University and until recently the Group Director of Design, Development and Environment at the LDA.
The UK-wide consultation will engage a wide range of professions and sectors including architecture, planning, surveying, landscape, housing developers, construction industry and others. It will be supported by an external Advisory Group, which will act as a sounding board to ensure the consultation is as comprehensive and effective as possible within the time period available.
Chaired by Paul Finch, the Advisory Group will offer connections to different parts of the sector to ensure that diverse views are expressed, and provide guidance and expert input. An in-house expert support team will include the new Design Council CABE Director of Design, Diane Haigh.
Announcing the consultation and review David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council said: “Design Reviews and other forms of support such as enabling within local communities are an essential component of the planning and development system. There is a bedrock of experience and knowledge across the sector that we can build on for the future, and it’s essential that we do so. This consultation is a rare opportunity to listen to people’s opinions and suggestions, and create a system that is truly responsive to the needs of our communities, economy and changing planning system.”
Peter Bishop’s report is scheduled to be published by late summer 2011.
Ends
Notes
1. Peter Bishop trained in town planning at Manchester University and has spent his entire career working in London. Over the past 20 years he has been a Planning director in four different Central London Boroughs and has worked on major projects including Canary Wharf, the development of the BBC's campus at White City and the Kings Cross developments, one of the largest and most complex sites in London. He was appointed as the first Director of Design for London in 2006 and in 2008 as Group Director of the London Development Agency, responsible for design, land development and its environmental, housing and public space programmes. Peter lectures and teaches extensively and is a visiting professor at the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at the Nottingham Trent University
2. The Design Council is a unified voice for a broad spectrum of design, architecture and public space, placing good design at the heart of social and economic renewal.
Further information
Please contact:
Nigel Campbell, Head of Communications, Design Council on 07825 442 339 / 0207 420 5282 / nigel.campbell@designcouncil.org.uk