P6.1: Understanding the Key Issues: Impact on Design

The process of scenario building and testing should begin with a review of all the information available, starting with a review of the Vision and Key Objectives for the development. A multi-disciplinary masterplanning team will need to consider:

• Understanding local context and character, based on the site and area appraisal;
• The ideas, stories and needs of the local community and key stakeholders;
• Constraints and Opportunities. Mapping Influential topics and themes: potential impact on scale and layout.  Constraints to movement and access in particular may provide a starting point for this process; and
• Land and development: scope and context of alternative land uses, interactions, synergies and conflicts.

As illustrated at Stage 3: ‘Anticipating the Outcomes’ of this Guide, it will be important to understand the anticipated outputs from the overall process, as this will influence to some extent the approach to scenario building and testing. For instance, for some sites the outputs will become a Local Development Document and as such it will be important to ensure that the evolution and testing of scenarios meets the expectations of statutory planning guidance (as set out in PPS12).