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Gwrthwynebu

ID sylw: 6964

Derbyniwyd: 25/09/2009

Ymatebydd: Bishops Tachbrook Parish Council

Built Environment
The Parish Council does not agree that all reasonable options are identified. This part of the document has been written by someone that does not have the slightest idea as to what a high design standard is but think they have. Much of what is constructed in the area is „posh mediocrity‟. There are only a few examples of buildings in WDC that have got anywhere near a design quality that approaches a high level. There is one thing for certain and that is that high quality buildings and environments will not arise from controlling standards imposed on designers from planning authorities. Design requires imagination to solve problems, whether they be planning of layouts, visual impact studies, making things work or setting new trends. Unfortunately, much of what passes for design is little more than a fashion statement with a sell-by date tag firmly applied.
Developers are perhaps the worst offenders. They build what they can sell - not unreasonably perhaps, except that the developer predetermines what will sell and when it sells because the public have to be housed, he interprets that as being the right approach.
Good design is difficult to define. New work certainly has to respect the environment into which it is being inserted, providing that was good in the first place, which it frequently isn‟t. It should derive its form from its function and interplay light and shade, materials, textures, colour and proportions so that the first reaction to it is "that‟s good." It should reflect the era in which it was built and not try to mimic bygone styles however good they are or were. Because good design is difficult to define and „beauty is in the eye of the beholder‟, planning authorities should not presume that they can be the arbiter of taste for the community. Experiment will have to take place as it does in all walks of life and sometimes these will work and sometimes not so well, but competent designers and architects when employed on a project will generally provide something that will please the client, and consultation with informed community groups could well help the design.