Climate Change Supplementary Planning Document Adopted July 2021
Background
The District Council resolved unanimously on 30 May 2019 to declare a Climate Change Emergency. Since the declaration of a Climate Change emergency by the District Council a Members Climate Change Working Party identified four priority areas for action:
- Transport;
- Estates;
- Planning Policy;
- Housing Policy
Council on 20th January 2020 agreed that two elements of the Climate Change Action Plan relating to Planning should include:
- Work with the Council’s Place Hub to develop a Supplementary Planning Document to set out the Council’s expectations for new development to ensure that it responds proactively to the Climate Change Emergency through appropriate mitigation and adaptation actions
- Ensure that the next review of the Local Plan adequately responds to the Climate Change Emergency In taking forward the District Council’s Corporate Plan for the period 2020-2024 it was resolved at Council on 5th March 2020 that one of the priority actions for taking forward the work on the Climate Change Emergency was:Preparing and adopting a Supplementary Planning Document on Climate Change.
The National Planning Practice Guidance sets out in relation to SPDs;
“Supplementary planning documents (SPDs) should build upon and provide more detailed advice or guidance on policies in an adopted local plan. As they do not form part of the development plan, they cannot introduce new planning policies into the development plan. They are however a material consideration in decision-making. They should not add unnecessarily to the financial burdens on development.”
Climate Change Supplementary Planning Document
A Climate Change Supplementary Planning Document has now been adopted and seeks to provide additional guidance on the following key areas:
- Green Infrastructure – including linkages to parks and open spaces, trees and landscaping, as well as linkages to biodiversity
- Water – including managing flood risk, sustainable drainage systems and the drainage hierarchy
- Energy – including the energy hierarchy, home energy standards and renewable energy systems
- Transport – including walkable and low car neighbourhoods, walking, cycling and public transport. It also includes the facilitation of electric vehicles.
- Building Design – including density of development and orientation The SPD also includes a checklist for developers which it is intended they will use to set out as part of a planning application submission how they have addressed the measures included within the SPD.
This SPD will have statutory weight in the decision making process, and can be used in the determination of planning applications as a “material consideration”.
The SPD was adopted by the Local Planning Authority at the meeting of its Community and Environment Committee held on 5th July 2021. The adopted SPD will have statutory weight in the decision making process and will be used in the determination of planning applications.
Download The Adopted Climate Change SPD [PDF 3.6MB]
Download the Climate Change Adoption Statement [PDF 302KB]
Any person who considers that the Climate Change Supplementary Planning Document has not been prepared in line with the relevant Statutory requirements may apply to the High Court for permission to apply for judicial review of the decision to adopt the Supplementary Planning Document within three months of its adoption.
