News From Creating Excellence: Creating Excellence Is Helping The Region To Address Housing Audit Design Issues

Dominic Murphy, Executive Director of Creating Excellence, said, "We are working with many organisations and people across the South West to improve skills and knowledge so that design in our built environment is better. We have examples of good design, and we know what it takes to achieve this. We hope that people will embrace the many opportunities to get involved in learning and networking which are now available so that the South West will have better designed, more inspiring, and sustainable places for us all to live in."

• Creating Excellence has established the South West Design Review Panel. Last year this met 12 times to assist 32 schemes. It has reported objectively to local authorities and a wide range of promoters of projects including private developers, housing associations and the South West of England Regional Development Agency.

• A Design and Historic Environment Champions' Network focusing on Local Authorities (councillors and planners) has been developed by Creating Excellence with funding from CABE. This project is taking place in partnership with both the region's Architecture Centres. Creating excellence is keen to work with private developers and volume house builders to enable them to identify champions within their own companies who could join this network.

• Creating Excellence has worked with the Housing Corporation to help them establish a Design Champions' Network for Registered Social Landlords.

More information about these initiatives can be found on the design page at www.creatingexcellence.org.uk , or www.designsouthwest.org.uk . Alternatively, call Creating Excellence on 0800 3283234 to speak to one of the team.

Read full news release from CABE: Consumers short changed by new housing: New report shows that local authorities and developers need to improve housing design quality