Skerningham Design Code - final meeting this week in Darlington

The meeting will be held on Thursday, June 30 between 6.30 and 8.30pm at Harrowgate Club and Institute, Salters Lane North, Darlington.

To-date, around 200 people have attended previous workshops and events and have offered input to the process of developing a design code for the area.

This has included discussions around access to the area, cycling provision, the ecology of the area and how green spaces will be included in any development for example.

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It is hoped that previous participants will attend the final event along with anyone who wants to find out more about the Design Code and offer their insights and views. There is no need to book a place, residents can turn up at the event.  

At the last workshop on Thursday, June 9, participants were able to further discuss what they felt to be important locally and indicated in a traffic light system the relative importance of those preferences. 

This information has now been collated and it is hoped this final event will offer feedback to show how these priorities could be included in the code and may include an early indication of what the code will look like.

It is also hoped that the final event will see a presentation of the separate character areas of the site and offer options on what these areas could be called. The next steps in the process will also be explained.

The final meeting will be held at Harrogate Club and Institute on Salters Lane in Darlington this week. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

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In February of this year (2022), Darlington Borough Council’s Local Plan was adopted and in this it was agreed that up to 1,650 houses and facilities such as a GP surgery and schools could be built in Skerningham during the plan period up to 2036. Beyond that date, there is scope for additional housing.

The Plan also ruled that the council must create and adopt a design code for Skerningham. The council has commissioned independent consultants, DesignNE, to work with residents to develop this design code.

A design code sets out expectations about the look and feel of a development to make sure a new estate reflects local character and preferences.

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• The future look and feel of buildings, encouraging the best of modern design and build techniques.
• Provision of green spaces and biodiversity including protecting existing landscapes
• Design of streets to encourage outdoor play and recreation
• Road safety features and cycleways and footpaths
• Climate change features such as renewable energy.

The Design Code will ensure that Skerningham Garden Village will be developed to a high-quality standard.

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Using feedback from the workshops, the Design Code will be drawn up and put before Cabinet for consideration. Once agreed it will then be incorporated into a supplementary planning document (SPD) which can be used to legally enforce planning development policy.

A consultation on the SPD will be undertaken before the document becomes legally enforceable.

More details are on the council’s webpage: www.darlington.gov.uk/skerningham

Queries on the Design Code event can be emailed to: skerninghamdesign@darlington.gov.uk

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