[Malcolm]

Hi Dave

This bit of an application came in some years back. It is an opportunity for architects to wax lyrical about how they came to the design solution that they came to. Often full of airy fairy BS in my opinion. However it is where the applicant basically states the reasons for why they came to the design solution they did; for a simple example, "we chose these bricks because they match the existing bricks on the house!". Often refers to local authority references for planning criteria (local plan requirements etc) which then allows you to show the council that you considered their wishes in your design ie we live in the countryside full of farms and barns so we designed the house to the shape of a barn! Trust me it happens! I built an industrial estate to look like Hampshire barns once! BS!

A suggestion would be to go online and look up other planning applications in your area and you can see what they submitted as part of their application as a design and access statement to give you ideas. It doesn't have to be a book and if you have personally got involved in the design, I would expect someone like you to be able to make a good enough hash of it to save fees.

Hope this helps