Shop Front Design Guide
A new Shop Front Design Guide for Chard has been developed with funding from the Hight Street Heritage Action Zone.
The guide contributes to the improvement of Chard’s town centre environment by giving clear guidelines to businesses and property owners on the styles and quality of shop fronts.
It offers advice towards achieving successful shop fronts in Chard, when new or replacement frontages are installed. ‘Shop front’ is a generic term, short-hand for the assemblage of an entrance, display window, frame and signage. The Chard Shop Front Design Guide’s principles therefore apply to any property use that utilises this set-up, including retail units but also other commercial or community uses.
It was adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document by Somerset Council in March 2022. Supplementary planning documents (SPDs) are intended to build upon and provide more detailed advice or guidance on policies in the adopted Local Plan. As they do not form part of the development plan, they do not introduce new planning policies into the development plan. They are, however, a material consideration in decision making.