Panel to provide design advice
Large building projects in Ashford will now be offered help and
advice from a panel of local architectural experts.
The Regional Design Panel will be able to offer advice to
planning committee members and developers for approving and
improving the design of major building projects in the town.
The five person panel will include a chair, two local designers
and two designers drawn from a regional pool dependent on their
specific area of expertise.
The panel will not have any decision making powers but will play
an important advisory role in raising the overall quality of
planning applications and driving up design standards.
Richard Alderton, Head of Planning and Development at Ashford
Borough Council, said: "The design quality agenda has many strands
and the Council's overall track record is good.
"However there is still more to do and a skilled Design Panel,
firmly grounded in the issues facing Ashford, is a key
component."