Successful masterplanning is the key to creating great places. A clear, considered masterplan, which has been developed by professionals and local people, can help produce high quality development and the revival of places. Masterplans provide key evidence on how development can be practically delivered and illustrate what it could look like, to support policies contained within local planning documents.

According to CABE’s guide Creating Successful Masterplans there are six key elements to a successful masterplan:

1. Visionary – it should raise aspirations and provide a vehicle for consensus building and implementation;
2. Deliverable – it should take into account likely implementation and delivery routes;
3. Fully integrated into the land use planning system, while allowing new uses and market opportunities to exploit the full development potential of the site;
4. Flexible, providing the basis for negotiation and dispute resolution;
5. The result of a participatory process, providing all the stakeholders with the means of expressing their needs and priorities;
6. Equally applicable to rethinking the role, function and form of existing neighbourhoods as to creating new neighbourhoods.

Masterplans can also:

• Help show local people what high quality development could look like and how it can come forward, including investment in local infrastructure such as green space, schools, roads and flood alleviation;
• Inform and add detail to the Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plans;
• Show how the ambition shown in the Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plans can be delivered on the ground; and
• Help people understand and better trust the planning process.

What’s happening in Torbay?

In Torbay, the New Local Plan was adopted in December 2015, which will work in parallel with three community-led Neighbourhood Plans in Brixham, Paignton and Torquay. These documents will form the overall development plan (local planning policy context).

The masterplans have been brought into the planning system on a formal basis as Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs). Each document sets out detailed proposals for development and placemaking in the context of strategic policies set out in the New Local Plan. These SPDs will also provide detailed guidance for the delivery of proposals in the New Local Plan.

We have adopted four masterplans as SPDs:

• Torquay Town Centre (adopted June 2015)
• Paignton Town Centre (adopted June 2015)
• Torquay Gateway (Edginswell) (adopted December 2015)
• Collaton St. Mary (adopted February 2016)

Great Parks, Paignton masterplan has also been adopted as local planning guidance.

The adopted masterplan documents are available to download below: