It has been a busy few months for the South Woodford Pathfinder Group as they continue to work towards producing a local design code. Pearl Arbenser-Simmonds reports
A design code is a collection of design principles to help local areas deliver beautiful and sustainable places. It enables the community to lead the way in shaping the design of their own neighbourhood. The document will provide guidance for development, covering the design of streets, public spaces and buildings, as well as spaces for nature.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our survey, walking tours, focus groups and interviews. It was also great to meet you and hear your thoughts at our stall at the monthly South Woodford market. There were some very interesting outcomes. Our report is available to read in its entirety online, but the top three priorities identified by you were:
- Deficiency of (active) green space.
- Improvements to the quality of public space.
- A lack of key amenities.
Over the next few weeks, we will be engaging an architectural consultancy firm who will help us deliver a draft design code. We will present that for consultation, inviting comments and engagement before finalising it towards the end of March or April 2023. We will also have a stall at the George Lane market on 22 January (11am to 4pm), so do please stop by and have a chat.
We have spent some more time updating the South Woodford Design Code website to make it even more interactive and easier to use. Your input is crucial throughout this process! Let us know what you think about the various options and designs and have some fun identifying areas you think could be improved. We do hope you will enjoy the changes to the site. It will be constantly updated so you can keep track of progress, as well as contribute to the draft code.
Time will not permit us to run another survey, so the website will be our main consultation tool, and will allow the draft code to evolve quite rapidly in line with any comments and suggestions submitted.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate, engage and support the work to ensure the design code truly represents the needs and vision of our community. A special thanks to Waitrose, who very generously donated gift vouchers for our interviewees as well as a cheque for £1,000 to help with the various regreening initiatives being carried out by the South Woodford Society. Thanks also to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for their support and guidance, and to Tally Lucas Associates for offering their space to host our discussions.
To read the South Woodford Design Code consultation report, visit swvg.co.uk/dccr
For more information, visit swvg.co.uk/dc
