Design Council launches review

The Design Council has launched a national consultation on the future of national design review, local design review and related design support. The announcement came on the first day that the Design Council officially merged with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. The consultation, which will run from April to June, will elicit a wide range of industry views to assess how best to drive high-quality design at the heart of regeneration, renewal and community planning, informing a root-and-branch review of CABE services. The document will be authored by Peter Bishop, a visiting professor in architecture and the built environment at Nottingham Trent University and until recently the group director of design, development and environment at the London Development Agency. David Kester, chief executive of the Design Council, said: "This consultation is a rare opportunity to listen to people's opinions and suggestions and create a system that is truly responsive to the needs of our communities, economy and changing planning system."