Introduction

The London Borough of Bexley (the Council) has produced a series of Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) to provide design guidance and support to applicants, decision makers and developers for new development across the borough.

As demonstrated by Fig. 01 opposite, the guidance supports the Development Plan which comprises the Bexley Local Plan and the London Plan. The SPDs demonstrate how policies within these statutory documents can be met and the guidance documents should also be read in conjunction with national and regional design guidance on placemaking, such as the National Design Guide.

Overarching design guidance, which applies across all types of development, is provided in the Design Guide SPD Part 1 - Design Principles. This should be read in conjunction with the guidance provided in Part 2 of the Design Guide SPD, which focuses on specific areas of development and comprises four documents which complement, and are structured on, the Design Principles.

Once adopted, the Design Guide SPD Part 2 will also be a material consideration in the determining planning applications. As such, proposals should conform with the guidance provided to achieve the best outcomes at determination.

This new guidance will replace the following Bexley planning guidance: Design and Development Control Guidelines SPD, Crayford Residential Design Code, Crayford Town Centre, Design and Identity Guide, and the Sustainable Design and Construction SPD.

The production of this document has followed best practice and been informed by a robust local evidence base. The guidance has been shaped through engagement with stakeholders and the public consultation process.

It should be noted that during preparation of the Design Guide SPD Part 2, the government published its draft NPPF. Once the final version of the new NPPF is published, it takes precedence should any conflicts arise between the two documents.

Design Guide SPD Part 2 - Area Types

This document identifies four common and emerging areas of development to equip applicants, decision makers and the local community with supplementary guidance to ensure development proposals respond to the Council's vision and priorities. The guidance signposts to other relevant documents, including those within the Design Guide SPD, and frequently links to policies within the Development Plan that must be followed.

As well as guidance specific to each type of development, the guidance identifies considerations common across all area types.

Tall Buildings and Building Heights

This chapter of the guidance addresses Bexley's approach to appropriate building heights across the borough and increased densities in appropriate locations. The guidance promotes a people-centred approach to development that prioritises responding to the existing context whilst creating opportunities for social interaction and community cohesion through developing places and spaces that support community needs.

The design guidance has evolved from, and responds to, three overarching objectives:

• to create high-quality places where new and existing communities can thrive
• to protect and enhance the local area enjoyed by residents
• to ensure residents benefit from innovative, forward-thinking and sustainable design

Public Realm, Town and Neighbourhood Centres

This chapter seeks to harness and celebrate the best of historic and new development within Bexley's town and neighbourhood centres, especially in the design of new public realm, to ensure these spaces benefit all residents and visitors to the area.

In addition to guidance in this documents, applicants are encouraged to refer to the Mayor of London guidance document Expanding London's Public Realm which provides design guidance on designing and delivering for the public good.

Industrial Land Development

This section of the guidance recognises the importance of a strategic approach to safeguarding Bexley's industrial land, while encouraging development and the efficient use of industrial land. Where sites are redeveloped, the guidance should be used to ensure proposals maintain and enhance Bexley's industrial capacity and continue to make a positive contribution to the borough.

Sites Adjacent to Watercourses

Guidance addresses the importance of riverside development activating spaces along Bexley's waterways for people to safely enjoy recreationally, whilst ensuring sufficient protection and enhancement of existing ecological habitats and the maintenance and enhancement of flooding and water safety infrastructure, with (adequate space for) new infrastructure provided where required.

Across each area type, built precedents provide examples of best practice and exemplars explore how certain development sites could be approached.

Summaries of key issues to be addressed and demonstrated in planning applications are provided at the end of each section for clarity, focusing on documents to be prepared to demonstrate design compliance. Applicants should engage with the Council's Development Management team to determine the full range of documents that should accompany an application.

How to use this guide

The Design Guide is separated into several distinct documents. Part 1 of the Design Guide, the Design Principles was adopted in January 2025 and applies across all types of development in Bexley to ensure consistency and quality. This is followed by additional guidance specific to certain types of development, including:

• Small Sites – sites below 0.25 hectares
• Building Alterations and Extensions – extensions and alterations to existing residential and non-residential buildings
• Area Types – common and emerging development types in Bexley e.g. industrial sites
• Site Design Codes – design guidance for areas undergoing significant change (these will be provided as part of the new Local Plan for Bexley).

These documents are supported by a Technical Handbook that contains detailed specialist information and standards required for certain planning applications, including highways, waste, sustainability and biodiversity.

The documents are colour-coded to aid navigation and each section of design advice is given a sequential number for ease of reference. Design Principles are given the prefix D. Small Site codes are given the prefix S, Building Alterations codes B, and Area Types codes A. The prefix for the Site Design Codes will be based upon the name of the area that is being planned.

The codes either use the words must, should or could. These indicate the strength of the guidance and whether it is required to meet adopted policy or suggestive – see Fig. 03. The codes only apply to relevant forms of development as judged appropriate by the planning officer assessing the relevant proposal.

The document uses precedent examples to illustrate the guidance, with text provided that explains what is deemed successful about the development. The use of these precedents does not automatically guarantee the approval of similar designs. All submissions to the Council will be determined based on their individual merits within their Bexley context.

Common Considerations

The following identifies several considerations common across all four areas types. These include preparing and submitting a development proposal, ensuring compliance with the Development Plan and more general principles of good design.

Building a design team

Developers should be advocates for creating high-quality places by engaging high-quality specialists early in the design process to provide advice, develop proposals and coordinate and submit a planning application. The RIBA and CIAT are valuable resources when seeking architects or architectural technologists.

Other consultants required may include structural, civil and electrical engineers, landscape architects, quantity surveyors, conservation architects, ecologists and arboriculturalists. An architect or planning specialist will be able to confirm whose services are required for the project.

The planning process and the benefits of pre-application

Given the nuances and sensitivities associated with development in the highlighted area types, utilising the Council's pre-application services is strongly recommended. This service provides the opportunity to discuss design development with relevant Council officers, offering clarity on what will be both expected and accepted by the Council at planning submission stage. A Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) can be arranged for larger schemes and should be discussed with the Council's Development Management team.

The amount of information required with a planning application will vary according to the complexity and scale of development. This can be discussed with the Council during pre-application. To allow for a smoother application process, submissions should comply with the Council's validation checklist which details the correct format information should be submitted in.

Design Review

Section D 02 of the Design Guide SPD Part 1 - Design Principles emphasises the importance of the Design Review process to allow an independent panel to assess a design response and provide advice on how to improve design quality. The section sets out the types of development the Council expects to attend Design Review, many of which would include those explored in this document.

Character Appraisal

Section D 01 of the Design Guide SPD Part 1 - Design Principles sets out what information applicants should include in a Character Appraisal, which should demonstrate an understanding of the character of the site and its surroundings. This should be used to inform a contextually responsive proposal that will protect and/or enhance an area's character and its amenities as required by Bexley Local Plan Policy DP11 Achieving high quality design.

Where there is minimal, immediately local context to refer to, applicants could refer to development sites in appropriately similar, suburban settings and present robust justification for why such a precedent is appropriate/applicable to Bexley.

Planning constraints

Whilst undertaking a Character Appraisal, it will likely identify a number of planning policy areas, or planning constraints, applicable to a site. These areas are defined zones where additional planning controls exist and will need to be considered during design development. These include Sustainable Development Locations, Article 4 Directions and Tree Protection Orders.

Applicants should refer to the Key Diagram in the Bexley Local Plan for significant planning constraints and the Bexley Local Plan Policies Map is a useful resource for identifying other constraints.

Conservation Areas

Conservation Areas are so designated to protect the special architectural and historic value of these areas. With development located within a Conservation Area, applicants must demonstrate how the proposal will preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the area.

The Council's Conservation Area and Appraisal and Management Plan for each Conservation Area provides guidance on what is deemed suitable development.

At the time of publishing the Council has four Article 4 Directions applicable to Conservation Areas. Applicants should check these to understand whether Permitted Development rights in these locations are more limited as a result.

Listed buildings

Listed are subject to Listed Building Consent which is separate from planning permission.

The determination process will consider the potential harm to the features of listed buildings or their setting and development which falls into these categories must, therefore, be sensitively designed to respect the special architectural character or historic interest of the building.

Applicants should refer to D 05 of the Design Guide SPD Part 1 – Design Principles which provides more detailed guidance on both Conservation Areas and listed buildings.

Response to context

Information on the proposed material specification must be provided alongside elevation drawings which show the proposal within its surrounding context. 3D townscape and streetscape drawings should accurately depict proposed materials to allow the Council to draw conclusions on their suitability.

Ongoing maintenance and management

Effective maintenance and management is key to the ongoing use and enjoyment of developments. A Maintenance and Management Plan should be submitted with a planning application, and evident in design choices, for example the specification of materials and layout of soft landscaping.

Movement

Development should promote active travel in accordance with the priority set out in the Design Principles. This requires good design and the necessary infrastructure to ensure pedestrians and cyclists feel safe.

Given the importance of bus services supporting access to jobs, education and services, development should not adversely affect bus operations, bus stop accessibility or existing and future bus priority measures.

New and redeveloped routes should be easy and straightforward to navigate and follow the Healthy Streets concept, meaning these are designed beyond their primary movement function, also creating joyous places for all to enjoy.

Safety in the public realm

Designing spaces that increase residents' sense of safety and belonging is vital to the success of a place. Applicants should refer to the GLA guidance Safety in Public Spaces: Designing for Women, Girls and Gender Diverse People which sets out how new development can mitigate against safety concerns and make public space more accessible and inclusive.

Climate resilience and environmental sustainability

As set out in the Design Guide SPD Part 1 – Design Principles, applicants must follow the GLA's energy hierarchy to 'be lean, be clean, be green and be seen', and proposals that exceed minimum policy requirements will be looked upon favourably. The Design and Access Statement and other reports such as an Energy Statement, Whole Life Cycle Carbon Assessment and Circular Economy Statement, must evidence how the energy hierarchy has been followed.

Proposals must respond to the site's climatic opportunities and constraints, employing passive design measures and optimising the orientation, layout, form and massing, and design to utilise and control solar gains and natural ventilation, whilst mitigating against current and future risks. For example, applicants should balance the provision of fenestration with mitigating against excessive solar gains, particularly to south- and west-facing aspects.

The Design Guide SPD Part 2 - Technical Handbook provides guidance on employing circular economy principles for all development, however for all major applications, applicants must evidence this consideration. The Character Appraisal should be used to identify opportunities to retrofit and refurbish existing structures.

The Circular Economy Statements LPG by the GLA advocates for the completion of pre-redevelopment and pre-demolition audits, which the Council supports. This allows developers to identify structures suitable for retention and assess materials to be managed, recycled and reused following any demolition early in the design process.

When developing a material specification, applicants must consider the circular economy of their proposal. Locally sourced, reused and recycled materials should be prioritised, with consideration given to waste reduction during construction and how materials perform over time. Innovative building materials and systems, especially those with low embodied energy, should be considered and specified where appropriate.

Applicants should clearly articulate their chosen material palette in 3D massing images, sections and elevations provided with a planning submission. A material palette and indicative specification must also be provided.

In line with Bexley Local Plan Policy DP30 Mitigating climate change, applicants must consider water conservation and recycling during operation, such as the specification of water-efficient fittings and rainwater collection for reuse.

Biodiversity and ecology

Where applicable, applicants must comply with Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation, achieving a 10% uplift in biodiversity on-site, unless exceptions apply. Due to the benefits to building users and Bexley's wildlife alike, applicants should seek opportunities to improve the biodiversity irrespective of an exemption, and deliver enhancements. Applicants must demonstrate how all on site opportunities are maximised, before the Council will consider requests to provide BNG off-site. The Technical Handbook provides further guidance on achieving BNG compliance.

Flood risk

As set out in Bexley Local Plan Policy DP32 Flood risk management, the borough is prone to several types of flooding and parts of Bexley, predominantly in the north of the borough, are located within Flood Zones 2 and 3. In accordance with the Bexley Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA), Policy DP32 identifies the criteria and requirements for all development within areas at risk of flooding.

In line with Bexley Local Plan Policy DP33 Sustainable Drainage Systems, green infrastructure, such as raingardens, swales and the planting of trees must be embedded within proposals to support water management and mitigate against the flood risk. Applicants should consider how their scheme can contribute to existing green corridors to support Bexley's biodiversity and ecology.