Over the past few months, Urban Initiatives has prepared the Design Guide for Derby city centre. The area is targeted for significant new development and regeneration. The aim of the guide is to establish clear design principles that will elevate the quality of design in the city centre. It seeks to ensure that future developments will respond appropriately to their context and prioritise sustainability, accessibility, and safety, whilst providing certainty around the Council’s expectations. The guide consolidates strategic, best-practice, and area-specific guidance into a single, easily accessible document.

Derby City Council is now consulting on the Design Guide and has set up two surveys for feedback: one for general views on the document, and the other for detailed, section-specific comments. The consultation is open until January 13, 2025, and can be accessed here. Following the public consultation, feedback will be reviewed and used to refine the document. Once finalised, the city centre Design Guide will be recommended for Council endorsement, making it a material consideration in future decision-making processes.

We are pleased to announce that on Wednesday, 13th December 2023, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council adopted the Building Height and Tall Buildings Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), which Urban Initiatives prepared on behalf of the council.

Much of the Royal Borough is comprised of low-rise villages and suburban settlements set within the landscape. Building heights increase slightly in the urban areas of the borough. The town centre of Maidenhead, in particular, has been the focus of several developments of significant height, necessitating specific guidance to ensure an appropriate response to the surrounding context.

The SPD provides a definition of a tall building for different parts of the borough and identifies heritage and townscape assets that are sensitive to tall buildings. It identifies sites in the borough where there may be opportunity for increased building height or tall buildings and provides guidance on heights and building design.

For many years we have been working to guide positive change within the London Borough of Hounslow. This includes a masterplan for Feltham town centre, development framework for the Golden Mile / Great West Corridor and a vision for the west of the borough. Earlier this year we prepared a Tall Buildings Study for the borough. In line with London Plan guidance this provides a locally specific definition for a tall building in Hounslow and identifies potential locations, and maximum heights, for tall buildings within the borough.

The Study informs the new Tall Buildings Policy in Hounslow’s new Local Plan 2020-2041. Both the Tall Buildings Study and our Great West Corridor masterplan form part of the evidence base to the Plan.

Consultation on the new Local Plan started today and will run until 28 October 2024.

In August 2023, Urban Initiatives was appointed by Watford Council to prepare a vision and framework plan for the southern part of Watford High Street. The quality of development and the public realm in this area is notably lower than in the successful and thriving parts of Watford town centre further north. The area is fragmented, dominated by traffic from the ring road, and apart from Watford High Street Overground Station, offers little to residents and town centre visitors. The aim of this project is to transform the area into an attractive gateway to the town centre, with improved pedestrian and cycling facilities, quality open spaces, and vibrancy from new developments, including housing.

To support this project, we recently completed an extensive consultation exercise in the study area, aiming to gather insights into local issues, perceptions, and aspirations. Towards the end of July, our staff members Nadya and Subham spent four days in the area, speaking with over 100 people from various walks of life who were passing through. In parallel, an online questionnaire was made available for individuals to leave their feedback. Combined, we gathered an impressive response of over 800 completed questionnaires, which provide a detailed picture of how local people perceive the area, their attitudes towards change, and what improvements they would like to see. The consultation findings will inform the scope of change in the area and shape our recommendations to the council.

Additionally, we have just been appointed to prepare a concept public realm design for a proposed new public space outside Watford High Street Station. This work will also benefit from the consultation findings, enabling us to respond effectively to movement routes and desire lines as well as, the issues, opportunities, and aspirations identified by local people.

Last night we held the first stakeholder workshop in Sevenoaks as part of our work to prepare a masterplan for the town centre. The workshop was held in The Stag Theatre and was attended by representatives from the town council, District Council, Sevenoaks Society, National Trust, local bus company, Chamber of Commerce, as well as local businesses, landowners, resident groups and traders.

The workshop followed a Placecheck exercise to explore the town and was used to discuss and explore a new vision for the centre.

In parallel with preparation of the Sevenoaks town centre masterplan Urban Initiatives has also been commissioned to prepare a separate masterplan for the St. John’s Hill area of the town. Urban Movement are supporting us in the preparation of both plans.

The two masterplans will build on the higher-level vision for Sevenoaks town that is set out within the Sevenoaks Town Neighbourhood Plan which we prepared for the town council and that was adopted last year.