A new college course for planners and engineers has been devised by Kent Design to raise the standards of development in the county. The design appreciation course will be held at the Canterbury School of Architecture and has already seen good take up from local authority professionals.<p></p><p> The course is part of an initiative by Kent Design to raise standards in the county. The initiative includes the launch of the Kent Design Awards which will highlight the best developments in the &amp;“garden of England&amp;”.</p><p> Kent Design steering group chairman and Hillreed Homes md Tony Hillier said: &amp;“Developers are getting exhortations to do better from all sides, and to balance this we need skills improvements in local authorities as well. The course will show planners what we want to be shooting for in terms of design - planners are not designers and we need to encourage their design skills.&amp;”</p><p> Kent Design held a seminar on the issues last month, sponsored by HBF, at which Kent County Council leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart spoke and launched the awards. Hillier said the conference was well supported. &amp;“People are starting to believe that good design will add value to their schemes, which is crucial. The …