Over the last year or so we have been working closely with Mid Sussex District Council to prepare a Design Guide that will inform and guide the quality of design for all development across the Mid Sussex District. We are pleased to announce that last week the Council adopted the Guide as a Supplementary Planning Document.
Mid Sussex is characterised by its historic settlements and beautiful countryside, much of which is protected for its special qualities. Almost half of the District is within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A fundamental objective of the Design Guide is to ensure that new development respects, responds to and enhances the District’s unique characteristics.
Like many authorities across the country Mid Sussex faces increasing pressure to deliver new homes. The Design Guide demonstrates both the process and the design principles that applicants should follow when preparing proposals and uses local precedent to help to illustrate this. Despite the Guide only being adopted this week council officers report that applicants are already using and referencing the Guide in preparing their proposals.