Revised guidance on tall buildings published

Tall buildings may in future be acceptable at outline planning consent stage provided the proposals are part of a robust and credible long term master plan, the Government's design and historic environment advisers have announced.

Current advice from the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and English Heritage (EH) says schemes should be for detailed permission but new guidance has changed tack.

This says that tall buildings may be acceptable at outline consent stage "in exceptional circumstances" provided they are part of a master plan and have been subject to environmental assessment.

The new guidance, just published, has called for tall buildings to exceed the latest regulations for minimising energy and reducing carbon emissions over the lifetime of the development.

The guidance also reinforces latest Government planning advice on the need for more pro-active spatial planning.

EH and CABE have said they hope this will lead to less ad-hoc decision making, more clarity for developers and better designed tall buildings in the right locations.

The guidance has also made it clear that tall buildings must address their effect on World Heritage Sites as part of the wider historic context.

CABE chief executive Richard Simmons said: "By their nature tall buildings have an impact on their context that is far wider than most other types of building, and so it is essential that they are planned well, designed well and meet the highest standards in terms of sustainability."

Steve Bee, director of planning and development with EH, said: "We hope that encouraging a plan-led approach will see an end to ad-hoc decision making and result in better-quality tall buildings."

Read CABE news release

Roger Milne

3 August 2007