Codicote Neighbourhood Plan 2024 - 2031 Submission

5 Design Policies Comment

5.1 Design Objectives

5.1.1 The objectives relevant to this section are:

5.1.2 Objective 1 To retain the village's relaxed, rural feel, and sense of community by thoughtful, attractive, development designed to enhance the village.

Objective 2 To ensure realistic numbers of formally designated parking places for residents and visitors are provided within each new development.

Objective 3 To encourage renewable energy and low carbon technology to be incorporated into new housing and other developments.

5.1.3 Codicote Village is surrounded by the Green Belt. The village development boundary is shown on the Policies Map in the North Hertfordshire Local Plan 2011-2031. This encompasses the existing developed extent of the settlement and allows for Codicote's future development needs. Four sites were allocated for housing development, and all now have planning permission. A site at Danesbury Park Road has been identified for four additional Gypsy and Traveller pitches to meet identified needs. All areas of the parish outside the identified village development/settlement boundary and the allocated Gypsy and Traveller sites are within the designated Green Belt. New development, unless it is appropriate or specifically directed to, for example, the Business Area on Codicote Road, should be located within the village settlement boundary.

5.2 Codicote Design Codes and Guidance

5.2.1 Codicote Design Codes (CDC) were prepared specifically for the Codicote Neighbourhood Plan area in the summer of 2023, and the report was finalised in October 2023. The CDC provides area-wide design codes which form a statutory part of the Neighbourhood Plan. They were prepared having regard to the NPPF (2023) and the National Design Guide (National Model Design Coded 2021), among other national design guidance documents, the NHLP and other local design guidance, and the Codicote Conservation Area Character Statement 2019. These are detailed in section 1.4 of the CDC.

5.2.2 The broad physical, historic and contextual characteristics of the Neighbourhood Plan area are described in Section 2. Included in this section are local examples of typical architectural styles and building materials. Section 3 of the CDC identifies the High Street as the dominant character area in the village and summarises other character areas identified and described in an extract of the 1^st Draft Codicote Neighbourhood Plan 2021, which can be found in the evidence base for the Neighbourhood Plan on Codicote Parish Council website.

5.2.3 Section 4 of the CDC (pages 34 to 64) contain the Design Codes themselves, which will be applied to all applications for development in the Neighbourhood Plan area. They provide certainty about the expectations of the Local Planning Authority and the Parish Council and are embedded in policy, against which planning applications will be assessed.

5.2.4 Codicote High Street is the backbone of the village centre, but conflicts arise between its role as the retail centre, a gathering place with restaurants and pubs, and a vibrant residential area, combined with being a local connector road (B656) between Welwyn and Hitchin. Particular issues are traffic congestion, which will be exacerbated as consecutive new developments identified in NHLP are built and occupied, pinch points where the road narrows, and widespread pavement parking producing a poor walking environment. There is also no public off-street parking in the village centre. Section 5 of the CDC provides a high level assessment of the issues and offers potential solutions. This section will be used to evidence the need for projects in the Neighbourhood Plan Project Plan (see Appendix E) and for discussion with NHDC/HCC and developers.

5.2.5 Finally in Section 6, the CDC provides an application of the Design Codes to Site CD3 (Land North of The Close) of NHLP. This section of the CDC has been used in discussions with the landowner/developer to provide the best possible solution to the development of the site. Section 6 along with the rest of the CDC will be used by the Parish Council to comments on various iterations of proposals for the site.

5.2.6 Other design guidance such as National Design Guidance provide high level principles for good design. Building for a Healthy Life (2020) is the government-endorsed industry standard for well-designed homes and neighbourhoods, reflecting the crucial role the built environment plays in promoting wellbeing.

5.2.7 Hertfordshire Country Council recommend Healthy Streets indicators to influence the design of urban spaces. There are 10 indicators, each describing an aspect of the experience of being on a street, for example, feeling relaxed and breathing clean air.

5.3 Net Zero

5.3.1 Net Zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas that is produced and the amount that is removed from the atmosphere. The 'net zero target' refers to a government commitment to ensure the UK reduces its greenhouse gas emissions by 100% from 1990 levels by 2050. This can be achieved through a variety of measures.

5.3.2 The Codicote Design Codes and Guidance recommends implementing passive environmental design principles by, firstly, considering how site layouts can optimise beneficial solar gain and reduce energy demands (e.g., insulation), before specification of energy efficient building services and finally incorporate renewable energy sources.Net Zero aims should be integrated into first principles of design, and development should adopt low energy and energy generative technologies within new developments at the start of the design process. This can apply to single dwellings as well as major developments of all kinds.

5.3.3 Extensions and refurbishments of buildings may offer the opportunity to retrofit energy efficiency measures. In larger developments, buildings with complementary energy profiles could be clustered together to benefit from a communal low carbon energy source. The ultimate in efficiency would be to supply multiple buildings that might require energy at different at different times of day or night. This would reduce peak loads. Historic England recently issued a draft document on Climate Change and Historic Building Adaption (November 2023). This demonstrates how historic buildings can become more energy efficient and help to reduce carbon emissions in England. The way forward is to positively integrate energy efficient technologies at the earliest stage of design.

5.3.4 Advice on the best methods to achieve Net Zero and government requirements for new buildings through updates to the Building Regulations, are constantly changing. NHLP Policy SP9 promotes zero carbon where building scale opportunities permit. However, technological advances now provide options for zero carbon on individual homes. A range of energy and water reduction methods will be supported as well as small scale energy generation.

5.4 Flooding and Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDS)

5.4.1 Codicote village lies in Flood Zone 1 with little risk of flooding from the River Mimram. Only homes in Codicote Bottom, and Fulling Mill Lane/Old Nursery Way are in Flood Zones 2 and 3. Codicote Bottom experiences frequent flooding.

5.4.2 Codicote sits above a Principal Aquifer. Surface water flooding is a significant risk for the village. (see Flood Maps in Appendix G). Roads particularly at risk are Valley Road and Cowards Lane, as well as some of the High Street. Older properties along the High Street contain or have contained wells, hence Pond House. There are also several springs around the village. Water runs off the hill to the east of the village and funnels down through development site CD3 to the valley bottom passed Howard's Spring and parallel to Codicote Road, until it crosses over the road to join the River Mimram.

5.4.3 During heavy rainfall the surface water gullies in Cowards Lane do become overwhelmed resulting in rainwater pouring across the main road (the B656) and into Rabley Heath Road to flood in the dip at the bottom. It is important therefore that prior to further significant development, especially in the vicinity of Cowards Lane, the ability of the drainage system to cope with the additional rainwater run-off is assessed, and the system upgraded as necessary.

5.4.4 Codicote village is identified as a Surface Water Hotspot by HCC (see map in Appendix G). These hotspots are locations considered to be vulnerable to surface water flooding, either due to a reported history or inferred from modelling (or both). Codicote does not have specific surface water management recommendations in the North Hertfordshire District Surface Water Management Plan (2017).

5.4.5 Designing for flood resilience would ideally mean that all development should avoid areas at the highest risk of flooding, and the surface water flooding risk is very high to the eastern side of CD3. Development on this site could potentially contribute to the flooding problem in the valley and therefore must ensure that only porous materials are used on surfacing.

5.4.6 All new developments should take advantage of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) to avoid creating or contributing to localised surface water flooding. The SuDS hierarchy as set out in the NHLP should be followed. SuDS should be part of the overall landscape infrastructure and improve the environment. The benefits of multifunctional SuDS go far beyond a piped or artificial SuDS system. Well-designed multi-functional SuDS such as blue-green roofs, wet ponds, swales and rain gardens can be used to manage surface water sustainably while also providing blue-green infrastructure with biodiversity and amenity benefits. Doubling as an area of biodiversity and incorporating SuDS.

5.5 Biodiversity by Design

5.5.1 Bat populations have declined dramatically over the last century, partly due to loss of habitat but they have also been impacted by natural roost sites, such as old trees, brick bridges and other built structures (see JNCC reference and IUCN's Red List Threatened Species). Bats have adapted well to roosting in buildings both for shelter during the winter and raising young in the summer. There are also four red-listed bird species of conservation concern that breed in Codicote: Swift, House Martin, House Sparrow and Starling. Swifts have declined nationally by 50% since 1995 (Tracking Swifts, British Trust for Ornithology), and have been particularly impacted by householders where small cracks have been filled in roofs and gaps under the eaves blocked up, in an attempt to made energy saving improvements.

5.5.2 Carefully planned new developments can help to reverse the decline of these species by including integral bat roosts and swift bricks in their designs. Projects to retrofit specially made swift boxes on existing homes, commercial buildings and churches, have proved to be effective in Hertfordshire. However, integral provision, i.e., into rather than onto buildings, are less likely to affect the appearance of the building, less prone to being removed by homeowners, and are more durable.

5.5.3 All three environmental statutory consultees, Natural England, the Environment Agency and Historic England provide encouragement and guidance for incorporating swift boxes and bat roosts into new or refurbished buildings, including Building Works and Bats published by Historic England (28 June 2021).

5.5.4 Although biodiversity of sites and habitats is dealt with thoroughly in the NHLP, only a passing reference is made to designing for wildlife when renovating or in new building construction or how design features can provide homes for wildlife. Paragraph 11.24 of NHLP refers to how the provision of permanent integrated features for wildlife can contribute to net biodiversity gains and gives the example of bat and swift boxes. Unfortunately, there is no policy to back up the suggestion. The wording of the paragraph goes on to say that these features are particularly important where development borders open space. Both bats and birds benefiting from integral roosts do not need to nest near open space and almost all buildings are suitable.

5.5.5 Codicote traditionally had a high number of breeding swifts present. A recent development in the High Street resulted in a loss of many of their nesting sites. Swift bricks would have been an ideal solution in this case where they would have provided an enclosed cavity behind a small hole in the wall of a new home. Advice was provided for the Neighbourhood Plan from both the North East Herts Swift Group and Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. Further references on provision of Swift Bricks can be found in Appendix B.

5.5.6 To redress the balance in Codicote and provide an ongoing resource for swifts and bats, which are dependent on human habitation for breeding, integrated swift nesting boxes (bricks) and bat roosting boxes should be provided in all sizes of residential development and in large non-residential buildings such as schools and industrial schemes. These ecological enhancements will be built as standard and will help to secure the future of swifts and other red-list birds that can benefit from swift bricks, and bats in the Neighbourhood Plan area.