The Built Environment Audit, which allows residents to assess the quality of their local built environment, was officially launched on Friday 4 June in the village of Castor, near Peterborough.

Local councillors, architects and representatives from environment and heritage organisations attended the event, sponsored by national regeneration agency English Partnerships. Speakers included Yasmin Shariff (a board member of the East of England Development Agency and council member of the Royal Institute of British Architects) and PECT chief executive Sarah Fowler. The event was chaired by Sir Brian Mawhinney MP.

The Built Environment Audit has been piloted in the villages of Castor, Ailsworth and Thorney, near Peterborough. The parish councils commissioned Peterborough Environment City Trust to develop the audit methodology while the villagers conducted the surveys. It was co-funded by the parish councils with the majority of the funding coming from the Countryside Agency Local Heritage Initiative.

The audit – which is believed to be unique to the UK – allowed villagers for the first time to undertake measurable and monitorable assessments of their local built environment to enable them to plan for future development. The audit has already been used to develop the Castor and Ailsworth Village Design Statement which is in the process of being adopted as planning guidance.

The audit methodology was designed to allow residents to undertake the survey work with little or no training. During the audit process, residents surveyed and recorded a number of different aspects of the built environment. These included recording the number of buildings, walls, fences and hedges in the villages and the materials from which they were constructed. Villagers also undertook qualitative surveys of townscape spaces, enclosing elements and other details, such as architectural and street furniture.

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Audit Helps Villages Plan For Future Development: continued

Yasmin Shariff said: "The Built Environment Audit is a bold step forward in planning for the future and recognises the challenges ahead. The audit is the first step to changing the way we assess our built environment, allowing residents to inform and improve future development.

"A great deal of work has been undertake by the villagers within a small community and I hope that the process will be adopted in other towns and villages."

Graeme Law, head of planning services at Peterborough City Council, added: "The audit is a robust method of measuring the built environment and will help the city council to reach valuable decisions about planning applications in the villages."

PECT plans to make the audit process a national template and will launch the process to other communities around the UK.

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Notes to editors:

• A copy of the Built Environment Audit summary report and photographs of the buildings in Castor can be obtained from Smye Holland Associates at the address below.

Photo caption: Castor and Ailsworth project co-ordinator, David Henderson, (left) and Sir Brian Mawhinney (right) with the event speakers.

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For further information contact:

Michael Holland or Debbie Chivers

Smye Holland Associates

Tel: 01733 564906

Fax: 01733 562051

E-mail: debbiec@smye-holland.com