LDF Policy CP17: ‘Design’ – states any new development will be required to ‘be safe and secure in its design and contribute to community safety.’
LDF Policy DC63: ‘Delivering Safer Places’ – states ‘Planning permission will only be granted for proposals which…..where necessary include well designed security features.’
The ‘Designing Safer Places’ Supplementary Planning Document provides further additional guidance and can be downloaded from the right hand side of this page.
As part of local the Council's local validation requirements, all major planning applications require a Safer Places Statement in order to be made validated. This document should show how community safety and crime prevention have been considered in the design of the proposal and how the design reflects the attributes of safe, sustainable places as set out in 'Safer Places - The Planning System and Crime Prevention' (ODPM 2004). For a copy of this document and a guide to completing Safer Places Statements please follow the links on the right hand side of this page.
Havering Police and the Secured by Design scheme
Havering police are formally consulted on a wide range of proposals and their response can be a significant material consideration in the planning application process. To assist with this partnership the Havering Police Borough Crime Prevention Design Advisor (CPDA) is seconded to the Council’s planning department.
The CPDA offers a free professional service designed to reduce the impact of crime and anti-social behaviour within the borough and deliver safe, strong, sustainable communities by applying the principles and practices of ‘crime prevention through environmental design’. Planning applicants should contact the CPDA as early as possible in the design/application process to discuss such matters.
The Secured by Design (SBD) scheme is the official UK Police flagship initiative supporting the principles of ‘designing out crime’ and is administered by the CPDA. In Havering it can be a planning condition that a new development achieves SBD accreditation.
SBD focuses on crime prevention at the design, layout and construction stages of homes and commercial premises and promotes the use of security standards for a wide range of applications and products. This works best if balanced with the need to achieve desirable places to live, work and visit, without creating a fortress mentality.
The Secured by Design scheme functions on two levels:
- A licensing scheme for products which meet police preferred specifications
- An award given to developers who build to SBD standards
There are no charges involved in seeking the advice of the CPDA or in applying for Secured by Design accreditation. The SBD Guidelines, details of licensed companies and other useful information, can be found by visiting www.securedbydesign.com .
Interactive toolkit
To view an interactive toolkit which shows some of the main principles of crime prevention through environmental design please visit www.securedbydesign.com/toolkit .
Further information
For further information on Designing Safer Places or the SBD scheme, please contact John Tyler, the Havering Police Borough CPDA via 01708 432 658 or by emailing john.tyler@havering.gov.uk