CD181 Planning guidance visualisations

Background and context

The strategic direction and vision for the OPDC area is set out in OPDC’s Local Plan. The Local Plan is in the final stages of being adopted. To supplement the Local Plan, OPDC is developing a Public Realm Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and an Industrial SPD. These will assist developers in shaping their development proposals and communicating the Local Plan’s vision and its delivery to wider audiences.

The Public Realm SPD will provide a series of typology-based guidance for the hierarchy of streets, routes and publicly accessible open spaces within mixed use areas, industrial areas, and transition locations between these areas.

The Industrial SPD will provide guidance for industrial development within and outside of Strategic Industrial Locations and related supporting uses to support the 24-hour industrial economy.

Both SPDs will also provide guidance for the design and use of public realm and industrial uses during the day and night; and they will embed guidance to deliver social value and support equity, equalities, diversity, and inclusion to meet the needs of all users.

A series of visualisations will support the reading and understanding of the SPDs and supplement the written guidance.

The proposal and how it will be delivered

The proposed expenditure will allow the Planning Directorate to deliver approximately 30 flexible, accessible, inclusive, and engaging visualisations for OPDC’s Public Realm SPD and Industrial SPD. Digital 3D visualisations will be explored to support flexibility and longevity of the images. The images will comprise:

• detailed 3D axonometric-style images of streets, spaces, and industrial sites

• engaging street views of mixed use and industrial streets

• technical cross-sections for streets, spaces, and industrial sites.

Suitably qualified consultants will be procured through a competitive tender process using the GLA’s Architecture, Design and Urbanism Panel (ADUP). This will be managed by Transport for London (TfL) Procurement and Commercial in accordance with OPDC’s Contracts and Funding Code.

OPDC does not have the necessary expertise or resource available to undertake this work internally. Management will be carried out by OPDC through regular client meetings, regular day-to-day communication, and joint file sharing.

Objectives and expected outcomes

The objective is to engage users of the SPD to enable them to understand how the guidance will shape the public realm and industrial uses.

The visualisations will be coordinated between both SPDs and will be able to be used for other OPDC print and web materials including publications and materials. Officers will also explore the potential use of images across the GLA Group. The images will reflect the diversity of London’s and the OPDC area’s local communities, communities with protected characteristics and the local OPDC existing and emerging built character.

The expected outcomes will comprise:

• accessible, engaging, inclusive and easily usable SPDs to assist developers in shaping their development proposals and communicating to wider audiences how the Local Plan’s vision will be delivered

• high-quality public realm and industrial uses informed by SPD guidance

• a suite of images for use within a range of OPDC documents and presentations.

Strategic fit

The planning guidance visualisations will help inform a number of existing and future OPDC workstreams including:

• Helping to deliver the objectives of OPDC’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2027 through embedding EDI considerations in the procurement process and ensuring EDI considerations are central to the formation of planning guidance.

• Delivering policy D1 and policies P2, P4, P5, P6 and E1 within OPDC’s Local Plan regarding the delivery high quality, sustainable and inclusive public realm and supporting the delivery of new and enhanced industrial uses.

• Informing the development of the Public Realm SPD and Industrial SPD.

• Supporting OPDC’s wider delivery strategy and programmes where new and improved public realm and industrial uses will play a key role in the new vibrant neighbourhoods being planned in the OPDC area.

OPDC must have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation as well as to the need to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. There are considered to be no adverse impacts to those with protected characteristics arising from this decision.

The emerging Public Realm SPD and Industrial SPD will include guidance to support the delivery of a more equitably designed public realm and industrial uses. This will ensure developments are able to be used and enjoyed by everyone, regardless of abilities, needs, genders, beliefs, and identities. This will help contribute to delivering the key actions within OPDC’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and will ensure that London is a fairer, more inclusive, and more equal city.

Project governance and assurance

Consultants will be shortlisted through selection criteria, including price, quality, and social value. OPDC would enter into the contract with the successful bidder.

The contract will be managed by the Principal Planning Policy Officer with oversight from the Director of Planning and Head of Planning Policy. An OPDC client group will be set up to steer the project from inception to completion.

Risks and issues

Project delays will impact on the timeline (see section 11) for delivering the Public Realm SPD and Industrial SPD. The consultants will be expected to prepare a clear project plan with milestones, timely delivery of outputs and adequate resourcing. Project management by the OPDC client team will manage risks associated with the delivery of project.

There is a risk that poor quality outputs will adversely affect OPDC’s ability to use the work as intended as part of the SPDs. OPDC’s client team will seek suitably qualified consultancy team with the necessary expertise and experience.

Project management by OPDC’s client team will manage risks associated with quality control.

Other considerations

There are no other considerations that need to be considered in the taking of this decision.

Conflicts of interest

No one involved in the preparation or clearance of this Form, or its substantive proposal, has any conflict of interest.

Expenditure of up to £70,000 will be funded from the Planning Policy area of the 2022/23 Planning Directorate budget. Work is expected to take place in Q1 and Q2 of 2022/23 per section 11 below.

Further expenditure and contract variations are subject the Corporation’s decisionmaking process.

The report above indicates that the decision requested of the Chief Executive falls with the OPDC’s object of securing the regeneration of the Old Oak and Park Royal area and its powers to do anything it considers appropriate for the purpose of its objects or purposes incidental to those purposes, as set out in the Localism Act 2011.

In taking the decisions requested, the Chief Executive must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty, namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010).

The services required should be procured in accordance with the OPDC’s Contracts and Funding Code by relevant procurement officers. Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful consultant and OPDC before the commencement of the services.