Agenda item

Government’s planning reforms are set out in Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that is currently proceeding through the House of Lords, with publication expected in late 2023. The Council responded positively to the government consultation on the proposals in early 2023.

Whilst the Bill continues to be amended it is unclear what the implications will be for the Local Plan. Promised quick changes to the NPPF have yet to materialise and this uncertainty over national policy on housing targets and Green Belt may delay progress with the Local Plan.

One area that the emerging Local Plan can address is ensuring new development contributes to meeting the climate change target of net zero carbon by 2050. The government’s Future Homes Standard is due to be implemented in 2025 and will require homes to be built to reduce carbon emissions by 75-80%.

The emerging local plan is expected to be adopted by 2025 and its timing will align with this new approach. There is also the opportunity to aspire to higher targets, a key objective of the emerging local plan is to achieve carbon neutrality ahead of 2050.

This report focuses on the main aspects of emerging policy to ensure that new building address climate change. This report includes discussion on energy efficiency, carbon reduction, water efficiency, sustainable construction and green infrastructure/urban greening.

Whilst the Council can aspire to go beyond national standards, by introducing policies and standards of its own, there must be a balance. Build costs have soared since the pandemic and housebuilding has significantly slowed with great uncertainty in the economy moving forward. Loading development costs to seek policy outcomes may deter development with implications for the number of much needed homes built. A key question is what government grants will be available to support viability issues in the development industry?

The Interim Planning Policy Manager presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Committee was advised that the Government’s planning reforms are set out in Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that is currently proceeding through the House of Lords, with publication expected in late 2023. The Council responded positively to the government consultation on the proposals in early 2023.

Whilst the Bill continued to be amended the implications for the Local Plan were unclear. Promised quick changes to the NPPF had yet to materialise and this uncertainty over national policy on housing targets and Green Belt may cause delays to progress with the Local Plan.

One area that the emerging Local Plan could address was ensuring new development contributed to meeting the climate change target of net zero carbon by 2050. The government’s Future Homes Standard is due to be implemented in 2025 and will require homes to be built to reduce carbon emissions by 75-80%. The emerging local plan was expected to be adopted by 2025 and its timing would align with this new approach. There was also the opportunity to aspire to higher targets, a key objective of the emerging local plan was to achieve carbon neutrality ahead of 2050.

This report focused on the main aspects of emerging policy to ensure that new building address climate change. This report includes discussion on energy efficiency, carbon reduction, water efficiency, sustainable construction and green infrastructure/urban greening.

A number of issues were raised in the ensuing discussion, including:

·     Whether there were further small requirements which could be built into the local plan which could have a significant impact on future development and help to ensure carbon neutrality.

·     The problem of putting rainwater into a foul water sewer, requiring all developments to put additional drainage which could lead to a surface water drainage system which could alleviate pressure on the sewage system. There was a concern raised regarding ensuring viability for smaller developers.

·     The focus on sustainable communities, which could potentially lead to overwhelming the population in certain areas and ensuring that all areas were sustainable. Initially workshops focused on the most sustainable areas, but this was now being developed to see how all areas can become more sustainable.

·     Data mapping allowed the service to visualise the impact of the policy on different areas and it would be useful if other service areas were able to use it to provide data to project. It was noted that additional population helped to maintain shops, schools and community facilities.

·     Focus needed to be on town centres for developments as most of the facilities were already there. However other areas were identified for local opportunities.

·     Greener building methods should be encouraged. The 10 percent renewal energy proposals seemed on the low side particularly if being incorporated into new builds. Everything possible was being done to encourage housing which did not leak energy.

·     Transport decarbonisation – There was conflict with employment sites which did not fit in with the sustainable community areas with limited bus provision. It was noted that government guidance was   decarbonising.  Good sites within urban area but need to have large employment sites and need to look at how these areas can become more sustainable.

·     Climate Earth previously wrote to all Councils stating local plans needed to be in keeping with achieving net zero by 2050. The ambition was to try to achieve carbon neutral status by 2050 but there was a limited amount that could be done solely with the Local Plan.  It was suggested that it would be helpful to see this communication from Climate Earth.

·     Community facilities - Due to demographic changes there was some viability concerns for schools. GP surgeries were funded in line wit the number of patients, but these were within the private sector and not much could be done from the Local Plan

·     Car charging points – lots of houses and new developments didn’t have space for a car.

·     Duty to co-operate – If local authorities were defining their own housing need this would not be possible. However the government was considering alignment policies and would need to consider this with the new NPPF.

·     Water efficiency – A surface water mapper previously looked at tidal and fluvial but was now also looking at the impact of surface water flooding. Areas for flood water storage were being considered.

·     Biodiversity net gain policy. The threshold which has been set was now very low. It was explained that all developments would be ask to include something. The Guidance note on this had recently been completed but would need to be signed off through the Chief Operations Officer and Portfolio Holder. The Committee requested that a final draft be shared with the Committee prior to finalisation.

Chair asked the Committee members to consider whether they could identify a couple of areas which the Committee could focus on and where the committee may be able to add value to the development of the Local Plan as it moved forward.  Members were asked to consider this and contact the chairman with any suggestions.