The Guide highlights the need to think carefully about what a brief is trying to achieve. It gives advice on how best to prepare a brief which will meet the objectives identified. The Guide is essential reading for anyone wishing to improve the quality and effectiveness of their site-specific briefing. The research study Llewelyn-Davies were commissioned in 1996, with Drivers Jonas, to undertake research into the use and effectiveness of planning and development briefs. Further details of the research are in Annex A .
Briefs go under many different names and cover a wide range of issues.
The research found 21 different titles, usually reflecting the document's primary purpose. But they all inform developers and other interested parties of the constraints and opportunities presented by a site, and the type of development expected or encouraged by local planning policies. They differ from planning or design guides which are also prepared by local planning authorities. These provide general guidance on development over a wide geographical area or in relation to particular uses, and are not site-specific. They also differ from developers' briefs which include an appraisal of the planning context but are prepared primarily by or for landowners to provide a commercial assessment of the value of a site.