Design Guidelines

The local county development plan states: “The County Council wishes to avoid being over prescriptive in terms of design detail, concentrating instead on the broad issues of scale, density, height, massing, landscaping, access and road frontage, and the visual relationship likely to be established with other properties in the vicinity.” and then goes on to say: “…A single storey form should be used… Observe and use colours prevalent in painted houses in the area; generally white, off-white or light colours will be acceptable…Avoid over large windows; choose smaller windows with a vertical emphasis… Dark roofing materials should be used. While slate is preferable, slate substitute or dark roof tiles will generally be acceptable. Roof pitches should be between 30 – 40 degrees.” Can anyone explain the merit of such policy and also why Architects bother to spend years studying Design and design methodology?