Roles in the design process
The design and approval of new streets is governed by both planning and roads legislation. The design process must therefore recognise both sets of requirements.
Streets perform several functions and many agencies have a role to play in their design, approval and maintenance. It is vital that there is an early, and continued, dialogue between the principal stakeholders i.e. developers, their consultants, planners, road engineers, and a range of others including public transport operators, utility companies, the emergency services, drainage and waste authorities. These discussions should take place as early as possible - before a layout is worked up and a planning application submitted.
Some local authorities operate a development team approach whereby all of the departments with an interest in street design work together during the design and approval process. This has clear advantages and is to be encouraged.
Planners and engineers should take a consistent approach to street design throughout all stages of the design process. Ideally, a collective decision at the earliest opportunity provides certainty. The principles agreed should then be written into a development brief. This can then be used as a tool to help initial consultations with developers in guiding layout design, obtaining planning consent, receiving RCC, checking construction and finally achieving adoption. It is important that any principles that have been agreed at a point in the design process are not revisited later, unless there has been a significant change in circumstances.
Planning and Road Construction Consents
Planning policies should set the overall benchmark for the design quality of any new development, which includes the new streets as a key part of the public realm. This is why local authorities should have specific planning policies on street design ideally within the development plan, or as Supplementary Planning Guidance. Planners and road engineers should work together to ensure policies are up to date and allow for the most appropriate street patterns.
The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 is the primary legislation for new roads. All new roads must receive RCC under Section 21 of that Act prior to construction. At present, the formal RCC approval process often only starts after the granting of planning consent. Engineering requirements may be applied more rigidly at this stage, which can lead to a dilution of design quality.
This PAN encourages a more integrated approach to approval, requiring collaboration between planning officers and RCC engineers. In this way, roads colleagues can be satisfied with the fundamentals of a development proposal, and can approve it in principle concurrent with the granting of planning permission.
The flow chart (opposite) shows how a more integrated system could operate, and the key design decisions which would need to be taken, and signed off, at each stage.
Road Safety Audits
Road safety audits are not about stifling innovation or strictly enforcing technical standards. Their purpose is to offer safety design advice by experienced road safety officers throughout the process and to ensure any scheme is designed with safety in mind. Well-designed residential layouts will normally achieve good levels of road safety through the control of traffic speeds. In streets designed to induce low speeds, councils should carefully consider the role of road safety audits. If a road safety audit is thought necessary, the auditors should work with designers throughout the process and evaluate the risk to the road user against design.
RCC: Suggested option for change
street design should not be considered in isolation since it is an integral part of a residential environment