Planning & Development News
Planning for climate change
Tackling climate change is a key Government priority. A new Planning Policy Statement (PPS) published at the end of December sets out how planning should contribute to reducing emissions and stabilising climate change and take into account its consequenc
Tackling climate change is a key Government priority. A new Planning Policy Statement (PPS) published at the end of December sets out how planning should contribute to reducing emissions and stabilising climate change and take into account its consequences. The PPS will take precedence over other national planning policy statements and policies in Development Plans and will be material to decisions on planning applications. This means that applicants for planning permission will need to consider how well their proposals for development contribute to the Government’s ambition of a low-carbon economy and how well adapted they are for the expected effects of climate change. This information could be included in a Design and Access Statement, or covered in an environmental impact assessment.
Planning new development
Key issues in selecting/assessing sites for development will include:
- whether decentralised and renewable or low-carbon energy could be employed;
- whether there are opportunities for access by sustainable transport;
- the capacity of infrastructure to service the area in ways consistent with cutting carbon dioxide emissions and adapting to climate change;
- the ability of the community infrastructure to cope with the local impacts of climate change;
- the effect of development on biodiversity and its capacity to adapt to climate change;
- the opportunities for open space and green infrastructure to provide for urban cooling, sustainable drainage systems, and enhancing biodiversity; and
- known physical and environmental constraints on the development of land such as sea level rises, flood risk and stability, taking a precautionary approach to increases in risk
that could arise as a result of climate change.
Where are the commercial opportunities?
The delivery of sustainable buildings is encouraged by the PPS which states that planning policies should support innovation and investment in sustainable buildings and should not, unless there are exceptional reasons, deter novel or cutting-edge developments.
The clear message from the government is thast they want councils to do more to back green energy. Planning authorities now need to give greater consideration to the local feasibility and potential for renewable and low-carbon technologies, including microgeneration, to supply new development in their area. In particular they now have to set out a target percentage of the energy to be used in new development to come from decentralised and renewable or low-carbon energy sources where it is viable without being prescriptive about technologies. This should bring forward a new wave of local renewable energy supply and community-based power schemes and a raft of opportunities for those involved in such schemes and in products aimed at energy conservation.
At the same time as publishing the new PPS, Communities and Local Government noted that a new report from the UK Green Building Council made it clear that new commercial buildings must move towards achieving zero carbon emissions in the same way that all new housing will be carbon neutral by 2016.
The Planning Bill was introduced on Tuesday 27th November. The legislation builds on the proposals set out in the Planning White Paper and introduces a new system for nationally significant infrastructure planning, alongside further reforms to the town and country planning system. The Secretary of State set out further details in a statement to Parliament on the same day.