Village Design Statement (VDS) is a term of English rural planning practice. A VDS is a document that describes the distinctive characteristics of the locality, and provides design guidance to influence future development and improve the physical qualities of the area. Due to the rural bias of many communities and the large urban majority in the UK its often considered in the context of urban planning although it was developed for the rural setting.
Drawing up the VDS provides an opportunity for communities to describe how they feel the physical character of their parish can be enhanced.
Rural Community Councils support local communities in the production of Village Design Statements.
Originally the VDSs focused on only the built environment, but due to development in the surveying methods they began to include elements of service provision and have largely been superseded by Village Action Plans.
Famous quotes containing the words village, design and/or statement:
“To fair Fidele’s grassy tomb
Soft maids and village hinds shall bring
Each opening sweet of earliest bloom,
And rifle all the breathing spring.”
—William Collins (1721–1759)
“You can make as good a design out of an American turkey as a Japanese out of his native stork.”
—For the State of Illinois, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The most distinct and beautiful statement of any truth must take at last the mathematical form.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)