South Staffordshire Masterplanning Support

Hyas were commissioned by South Staffordshire District Council (SSDC) to undertake a series of workshops on design and masterplanning for District Members and officers. The purpose of this training was to inform decisions on site selection and site-specific policies for SSDCs emerging Local Plan.

Our approach to training sessions was to ensure that sessions are lively, interesting, interactive, and focussed around relevant case studies and practical examples. The Hyas team drew on our significant knowledge and experience from working directly with strategic sites and new settlements across the country over the last 15 years, providing relevant imagery and illustrations to highlight key issues. All the examples and case studies provided were from a perspective of the challenges facing local government in securing high quality new neighbourhoods and communities and how this can be achieved through the planning system. However, with the teams’ unique blend of public and private sector experience, we were also able to highlight the commercial challenges and considerations, together with the need for strong collaboration between all key parties to achieve quality new communities.

Session 1: New Settlement principles 

Focussed on the challenges and opportunities of delivering new settlements, drawing on our current portfolio of contemporary new settlements, including garden villages/towns and our extensive experience of delivering projects at this scale.

Session 2: Principles of good masterplanning 

Focussed on understanding the masterplanning process and what makes a good masterplan. With practical examples of how masterplans can be used/are crucial to creating sustainable, high quality comprehensive development, including how masterplans evolve alongside the planning process.