Design Review Panel

Session Format

Depending on the option selected when booking, sessions are between 90 minutes and 4 hours long. The Panel will strictly adhere to the session times, to ensure one session does not run into another.

 

Multi-disciplinary

 

At each session the Panel will be made up of a range of built environment professionals;  the administrator/chairperson and several other rotating Panel members, who will be selected from a pool of expert volunteers.

 

Any Design Review Panel is only as good as its members. It is therefore crucial to have the right mix of skills and experience to provide clear, objective advice. In recognition of this, the Panel pool includes built environment professionals from a range of disciplines. This enables panel members with the appropriate skill set and experience to be selected for the scheme being reviewed. 

 

The Design Review Panel pool includes, architects, urban designers, landscape architects, conservation specialists, ecological or sustainability experts, civil engineers, structural engineers, chartered surveyors, independent town planners and arboriculturalists. For details of The Design Review Panel members, Click here ...

 

 

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Design Review Timing

 

Ideally, schemes will be submitted to the panel at the pre-application stage of the planning process. This is the best time to take advantage of a review, whilst the design is still fluid. This can help proposers to identify the design aspects of schemes that should be improved. This in turn may help the applicant and local authority to resolve design issues before the application is submitted, saving both the applicant and the Local Authority time and expense.

 

The design review process will be treated as a conversation about work in progress, not a verdict on an outcome.

 

The review may precede the pre-application meeting with the planners, but it will usually follow it, when wider policy matters have been aired.

 

Leaving review until the planning application stage is possible, but may make it more difficult for the design team to make changes.

Information for the Panel

 

There is no set requirement for the level of information to be submitted in advance of a panel session, or the content of the presentation made to the panel. However, in order to gain the maximum benefit from The Design Review Panel session, it is recommended that the project team provide as much information as possible. Click here, for a guide to the information to be provided ...