Spelthorne Design Code FAQ

A design code is a manual or handbook that contains drawings, plans and a set of rules that will influence how all new buildings should be designed and built. 

All councils are now required to prepare a borough / district-wide Design Code to help improve the quality of new development. Spelthorne Borough Council has just started to prepare a design code, and it wants local people – the people that know and love the area best – to help it write this code.

We will be delighted if you want to get involved. Over the next few months, the project team will be meeting with diverse groups across the area to find out what they think of Spelthorne today and what it could be like in future. 

The Spelthorne Design Code will set out the design requirements for proposed new development in the borough. It will ensure that new development is locally supported, sustainable and functions well for all its users. 

The Design Code will be used to determine whether planning applications are acceptable in design terms, and will support the emerging Spelthorne Local Plan. It will contain simple, concise, illustrated design requirements for streets, open spaces and buildings. It will also set out expectations for the process to be followed when proposals are designed. It will be based on wide-ranging input including that from the local community, other stakeholders and wider understanding of the places within the borough, to ensure it is locally-supported, robust and can be used in practice.

Have you wondered about how and why the buildings, streets, parks and gardens you see around you were designed and built? Do you ask yourself why homes, offices and shopping centres look the way they do? And are you interested in design and planning in Spelthorne? If your answer is “yes”, we would like to hear from you!

We believe you know your area best, so it is important that local people can help shape the vision for their local area and set the standards for new developments coming forward in the Borough. 

We want to hear from people who live or work in the area about what you like and value about the area, what could work better and where there are opportunities for change. The feedback from all the consultations and engagement activities will be analysed and will inform the final Spelthorne Design Code.

You can explore our Spelthorne Design Code engagement hub for more information and news about the project. We are particularly keen to hear your thoughts on what good design looks like within the Borough. An Interactive Map is available now on the website that you can use to let us know your thoughts.

If you've got questions, you could submit your queries below. Alternatively, you can contact us at designcode@spelthorne.gov.uk or call 01784 444205.

The Design Code Team is taking several steps to engage the local community. An interactive mapping activity is now available on the website where you can pin your views and ideas to specific points on a map of the Borough. Have your say here.

We are also setting up a Citizens Panel to play an important role in developing the Design Code. The Panel will be selected to be representative of the demographic and geographic characteristics of the Borough. You can access the link here for more information.

Please enter your email address at the top of the Home page to subscribe to updates and be notified when applications open and more information is available.

You can also leave any comments or questions in the submission box below.

The Design Code Team really welcome any comments local people in Spelthorne have, whether anonymously on the Interactive Map or in the FAQ submission box, which other fellow residents can view and get a sense of what others are sharing their thoughts on, or less publicly to our email address. You can simply write to designcode@spelthorne.gov.uk and send in your questions or opinions there or call us on 01784 444205.

You can now submit comments on our Interactive Map where you can drop a pin on a location you would like to talk about, e.g. an area of green space, off-street parking location, front garden, small development area, street, façade design etc. and share your thoughts tied to that location or more generally about that type of place. The Team would also welcome any comments you have to be sent into the email designcode@spelthorne.gov.uk. There’s also another exciting opportunity where you can apply to join the Design Code Citizens’ Panel here. This will comprise of 3 focus group sessions with your fellow residents, who will all demographically represent the Borough and be a great way for you to further share your opinion in a guided, topic-led, discussion group. 

We will be engaging with and listening to views of the Spelthorne community at all stages of the Design Code project. Combined with a thorough analysis of the character of the different areas in Spelthorne, this will help shape the Design Code, making it bespoke to the Borough and the particular design challenges and local context within each place.

Spelthorne Borough Council is preparing a new Local Plan which will set out the policies and allocations that will guide how development and infrastructure comes forward in the borough for the next 15 years. The Design Code will be a Supplementary Plan that sits alongside the Local Plan and will relate to the design aspects of new development. Once these documents are adopted, development will have to be designed in accordance with both the Local Plan and the Design Code. 

The Design Code covers issues such as movement, nature, built form, public space, use, homes and buildings, and resources specific to Area Types. It is intended to address local character and identity, environmental standards, housing quality and standards, place-making, accessibility and inclusivity, street design and public realm, building aesthetics, green spaces, and infrastructure integration.

The Local Plan will consider the relationship between new development and flood risk through its site allocations, and in consultation with the Environment Agency. The Design Code may include standards for elements of design that can reduce or slow down surface water during storm events, to make sure development does not exacerbate flood risk elsewhere. This could include sustainable drainage features such as swales and rain gardens.

The Design Code will be used as part of the determination process for planning applications. Once it is adopted, all planning applications will have to show that their design proposals comply with it.

Like the Local Plan, the Design Code is required to be reviewed every five years to ensure it is up to date and effectively addresses the needs of the borough.

The Spelthorne Design Code is community-led and will be co-produced by its own residents. We welcome all views from every demographic in Spelthorne to really get a sense of local peoples’ design needs and aspirations of the future. The Design Code aims to reflect what Spelthorne residents would like to maintain and preserve and what they may want to change and improve. The public will also be consulted on the draft Design Code later down the line, which will be drawn up in the coming months after translating residents’ views.