Guides & resources

Practical guides to site layout, UK planning constraints and getting more from Airship Site Designer, and to planning outdoor event sites: the Purple Guide, Martyn's Law, capacity, toilets and fairground rides.

Housing, car parks and development

• Housing Estate Layout Software — Design UK Estates in Minutes | Airship
  Browser-based housing estate layout software: trace a site, auto-generate roads, plots and parking to UK standards, explore in 3D and export DXF & PDF.
• Car Park Layout Design Software — UK Bays & Aisles | Airship
  Design surface car parks online: auto-fill bays and aisles to UK standards, place accessible and EV spaces, check parking ratios and export DXF & PDF.
• How to Check Flood Risk for a Development Site (UK) | Airship
  Check Environment Agency Flood Zones 2 and 3 for any UK site, understand what they mean for planning, and overlay flood risk on your layout as you design.
• UK Planning Constraints Map — Green Belt, Conservation & More | Airship
  See UK planning constraints on a map: green belt, conservation areas, listed buildings, SSSIs, AONBs, flood zones and more — overlaid on your own site.
• Designing Estate Roads to Manual for Streets | Airship
  What Manual for Streets actually says about carriageway widths, visibility splays, junction spacing and turning heads — and what is wrongly attributed to it.
• How to Find Development Land in the UK — Brownfield Registers | Airship
  Find development sites in England using the statutory brownfield land registers: what they contain, how to search them by area and capacity, and how to check who owns a site.
• Development Appraisal Software — Residual Land Value & Viability | Airship
  Appraise a UK residential scheme online: GDV from local new-build values, build and external costs measured off the layout, CIL, Section 106, affordable housing, profit and residual land value.
• Vehicle Swept Path Analysis for UK Housing | Airship
  What a swept path analysis is, the tractrix geometry behind it, which design vehicles UK authorities test against, and when a planning submission needs one.
• Refuse Vehicle Access & Bin Collection Distances | Airship
  The three bin carry distances, refuse vehicle reversing limits and turning head rules for UK housing layouts — what the national guidance actually says.
• BS 5837 Root Protection Areas Explained | Airship
  How to calculate a BS 5837 root protection area, what the 2012 standard requires, tree categories A to U, and what you can and cannot build inside an RPA.

Event sites

For event organisers, safety officers and local-authority event teams, from Airship Event Designer.

• What Is the Purple Guide? Event Safety Explained
  What the Purple Guide is, who publishes it, whether it is law, what its 45 chapters cover, how Safety Advisory Groups use it and how to get your own copy.
• Martyn's Law for Events: Duties and When It Starts
  Martyn's Law for events: the 800-person test, what organisers must do, SIA penalties, and when it comes into force. Not in force as at 20 October 2026.
• Fairground Ride Safety at Events: HSG175 & ADIPS
  Fairground ride safety at events: what HSG175 asks of organisers, how ADIPS inspection and the DOC work, and what to check before a ride is built up.
• How to Draw an Event Site Plan for a SAG
  What a Safety Advisory Group expects on an event site plan: scale, exit widths, emergency routes, capacities, phases and how far ahead councils want it.
• How Many Toilets for an Event? UK Ratios
  How many toilets for an event in the UK: ratios by gate hours, alcohol and camping, plus accessible, hand-wash and crew, and a worked 5,000-person example.
• Event Capacity Calculation and Occupant Density
  In England, standing crowds start at 0.3 m² a person. How to calculate event capacity from usable area, exit widths and escape time, with a worked example.