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The Aim of the Planning Service is to
“Help to maintain and enhance the towns, villages and rural areas of Warwick District as places of special value; enhancing their historic and landscape character whilst enabling high quality, safe and sustainable development that will assist economic diversity and meet the community’s needs for housing and services.”
In achieving this aim, the service will strive to achieve excellence in standards of performance, seeking to perform at the highest levels and compare with the best in all key areas. In order to achieve this, the service will be managed and resourced to ensure that we:
- review our policies and procedures regularly to ensure the most effective and efficient forms of service delivery are adopted
- commit to providing a responsive and accessible service for all customers that makes best use of information technology
- consult customers and the local community to ensure that service delivery meets needs
- seek to make a difference in meeting the needs of the community by working to achieve Community Plan objectives, Corporate Policy and other identified community needs
- ensure that our decisions are made in a fair and transparent manner
- work to ensure that we provide value for money in everything that we do to ensure that a quality service is delivered in a cost effective way
- ensure that we have the well trained, highly motivated workforce necessary to deliver the Planning Service
- Maintain a positive stance towards achieving equal opportunities in employment and service delivery.
Key Service Outcomes
We take the view that the service should ultimately be about making a positive difference for the community, economy and environment in Warwick District. This is reflected in the service aim above. To ensure we do this we will focus our efforts on things that have been identified as important by the general public through the Community Plan and other consultations.
Our Key Service Outcomes will therefore be as follows:-
Development Control
- High quality design
- Appropriate uses for existing buildings
- Protection of the amenity of those affected by development
- Proper access for all in development proposals
- To achieve, where appropriate, through negotiation on new development proposals sustainable forms of transport including facilities for public transport, cycle routes, cycle parking, pedestrian routes and pedestrian safety, high levels of affordable housing, improved community facilities and high quality open space.
- Protection of our historic buildings and environment from inappropriate development
- Effective enforcement service
- Avoidance of flood risk
- Protection of the Countryside, urban green spaces and areas of wildlife value.
Policy and projects
- Preparation of policy that will provide a framework for the development control actions above
- Allocation of development in a manner that reduces the need to travel and meets sustainable objectives including giving priority to brown field development
- Encouragement of biodiversity and continuity of the Habitat Biodiversity Project.
- Development of policy and initiatives to increase affordable housing provision.
- Provision of policy guidance on sustainable transport initiatives including park and ride and rail station provision
- Provision of policy and guidance to support regeneration projects for town centres and deprived areas
- Provision of policies and guidance to encourage energy efficiency
Conservation
- Protection of the District’s unique historical and architectural heritage and features of local distinctiveness
- Provision of detailed design and conservation advice to support the development control actions above
- Continued grant aid to secure repair of historic buildings and to secure shop front enhancement
Building Control
- Encouragement of the conservation of fuel and power in new developments
- Ensuring the health and safety of all those in and around buildings and structures
- Ensuring the provision of proper access and facilities for the disabled in all development.
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