HDC's policy documents frequently contain references to the necessity of a high standard of design, probably in response to government exhortations to promote good design, but they have not always had much effect. A recent move unarguably puts design at the heart of the system.
 
Ministers have now accepted an amendment to the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 that puts the pursuit of design quality on an equal footing with sustainability as a fundamental duty of planners. This not only strengthens planners' hands in rejecting poor design applications but calls upon them to filter out the banal and mediocre. Even more importantly from the point of view of The Horsham Society it can also be seen as providing a mandate for local design champions and local design review panels.