The Design Guide, Highways in Residential and Commercial Estates was first published in 1996 and last updated in 2001. In recent years the approach to the design of the space between buildings has evolved away from the traditional dominance of the engineered carriageway. There is now a recognition that the public realm has many wider functions than just the movement of vehicles. This has been recognised in the national launch of the Manual for Streets by the Department for Transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government in March 2007. The manual can be found at http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/manforstreets/

Devon County Council have played an instrumental part in the development of the national Manual and will now be working with developers to follow its principles in the design of new layouts in the county. Designers are encouraged to establish contact with their local Development Management Officer at the very start of the design process, contact details are below. Part Four of the Devon Design Guide, the Specification, has been updated and is included here for download. The Manual for Streets replaces much of the Design Guide which will be reviewed in the light of the new national guidance in due course. In the interim the remaining chapters can be referred to for information such as parking space dimensions and commercial estate roads and are therefore included for reference to those elements not covered in the Manual for Streets.

All future updates to the Guide will be posted on this website.  If you wish to be notified each time an update is made, please email us at planning@devon.gov.uk.