EH commissioner Bill Bryson launches 'Streets for all" manual to provide practical guidance on visual quality in streets.
English Heritage has launched a guidance programme for local authority staff in a bid to improve cluttered street designs.
The organisation has launched of eight regional "Streets for all" manuals to provide practical guidance on visual quality in streets. The manuals are the second stage of the Save Our Streets awareness-raising campaign, begun last October.
English Heritage commissioner Bill Bryson said: “In particular, we want to encourage highways engineers to pay attention to what makes each region special, its landscape, its use of local building materials and its traditional detailing.”
He warned planners against superfluous traffic signs, bollards and barriers. He said: “The starting point is to identify streetscape elements of historic, cultural or social value and to review whether other elements are necessary. Redundant items should be removed, and the design of essential items considered in the context of the local environment.”
The ‘Streets for All’ scheme favours the Dutch “woonerf” tradition of street design, that emphasizes that traffic and social activities share the same space.
