On this page: Development Control Guidance Notes created by Swindon Borough Council to assist in the preparation and assessment of planning applications.
Swindon Borough Council sees developer contributions playing a vital role in securing the funding necessary to facilitate future growth in Swindon through the provision of essential infrastructure.
Swindon Borough Council has adopted a suite of Developer Contributions Guidance Notes. These provide a single 'one stop shop' approach for Swindon Borough Council's requirements for developer contributions for a variety of essential infrastructure. It incorporates all existing adopted guidance on developer contributions.
To view the main Developer Contributions document please see Developer Contributions.
The specific service area developer contributions guidance notes can be viewed below.
Social Services Development Control Guidance Note
The guidance note seeks contributions where need for certain Adult and Children’s services are expected to grow over the next five years resulting in a requirement for further care facilities.
Social Services Development Control Guidance Notes (PDF, 241Kb).
Community Safety Development Control Guidance Note
The Council has a legal requirement under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, to review how their current service provision impacts on crime and disorder. The guidance note outlines the cost of various initiatives, for example the installation of CCTV in the Borough, and arrives at a contribution per dwelling type to fund these improvements.
Community Safety Development Control Guidance Note (PDF, 184Kb).
Culture and Leisure Development Control Guidance Note
The guidance note seeks a financial contribution where new residential development will create or make worse a deficiency in the quantity, quality and/or accessibility of culture and leisure provision in Swindon. The Guidance Note details projected need and calculates the level of contribution expected per new dwelling in the context of this need.
Culture and Leisure Development Control guidance Note (PDF, 638Kb)
Developer Contributions to Public Realm and Infrastructure Improvements in Swindon's Central Area
This guidance note has been adopted by the Borough Council, the purpose of which is to secure the enhancement of Central Swindon's public realm to allow it to meet the greater demands that will be placed on it in the future, by providing a means of securing developer contributions towards improvements to the Central Area Public Realm. The document can be downloaded: Public Realm Developer Contributions (PDF 1.33Mb).
This document should be read in tandem with the adopted Public Realm Strategy: Please see Supplementary Planning Documents.
Nature Conservation
The Borough Council has adopted a Guidance Note on Nature Conservation (PDF 197Kb); it is a result of an innovative joint working partnership between Swindon Borough Council, Natural England and David Tyldesley and Associates, who are expert consultants in the environmental field. The purpose of the Guidance Note is to amplify the nature conservation policies of the adopted Swindon Borough Local Plan 2011 by providing additional guidance against which planning applications can be prepared and determined. Biodiversity is a key indicator of sustainable development and the planning system has a vital role to play in protecting and enhancing biodiversity.
Parking Standards
One of the most important amenity impacts arising from new development is the availability of parking. This is particularly important to residential development.
The Council's existing parking standards are appended to the adopted Swindon Borough Local Plan, 2011. The Government's 'Manual for Streets' (Department for Transport, 2007), provided a sound starting point for a revision of these standards to address ongoing concerns over parking provision in new residential developments.
The Council has adopted revised parking standards for residential development and these have been incorporated in to a new technical guidance note on parking standards. It should be noted that parking standards for non-residential development have not been revised and remain the same as those appended to the adopted Swindon Borough Local Plan.
Details are contained in a series of downloadable PDF files:
Street Trading and Ancillary Retail Kiosks
A key priority for Swindon Borough Council is to achieve high quality design for all development, including street trading stalls and ancillary retail kiosks, to ensure that such development is appropriately located in order to be safe and sympathetic to surrounding land uses, and not to detract from the visual amenity of the area.
The Street Trading and Ancillary Retail Kiosks' Design Management Guidance Note (DMGN) complements the existing policy documents, which relate to town centre regeneration, as well as providing more detail of the specifics of street trading - with the overall aim of working towards a more inviting town centre.
The DMGN is by no means exclusively limited to the central area, but also aims to provide advice in relation to street trading and retail kiosks within the rest of the borough.
The adoption of this document will help us in decision making on such applications and also to provide advice and more certainty to members of the public wishing to submit applications for street trading pitches or retails kiosks, which has not been available in the past.
The DMGN is contained within our Freedom of Information (FOI) Publication Scheme.
Travel Plans
For new developments over a certain size, developers will be required to submit a travel plan as part of the planning application process.
We have produced some guidance leaflets to help with the preparation of these, which are available as a series of downloadable PDF files:
Validation Checklist Development Control Guidance Note
The Borough Council has updated its development control guidance note on Validation Checklists. The Guidance Note seeks to improve the level of information provided with planning and associated applications. This DCGN provides the Council and applicants/agents with greater certainty as to the nature and extent of information required in order to validate and process applications.
Please see: Validation Checklist (PDF, 66 KB)