Gemma Hizzett

Gemma has been working as an Urban Designer based in the Yorkshire and North West regions, through her specialist field. Gemma has been focusing on context, community and sense of place, whilst also taking into account sustainability and the wider environment.

Gemma is the lead Urban Designer for Wakefield Council, and her role is ensuring that new planning applications received, help to create high-quality and well-designed places, whilst working collaboratively with developers and the Development Management Team within the Council. Gemma's role is to bring various specialist fields together to ensure that proposed developments can successfully create innovative and forward thinking designs in-line with local and national design requirements.

Gemma has most recently worked on the Wakefield District Design Code which has now been formally adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) in June 2026 which is based upon the design process. The Design Code is presented as an interactive web-based document, which is fully accessible and has a filtering function for different development types. The Code also has an accompanying Appendices, which outlines details such as local Area Types which are based on residential densities, a broad study of local historic character areas identified across the district, and updated masterplanning guidance. The Design Code is an authority wide document which applies to various development applications, focusing on creating a strong basis of design principles and tackling recurring design issues. The document was created as a collaborative project across the planning services within the Council and the Councils appointed consultants.