Issue - meetings
presentation item
Meeting: 27/09/2023 - Cabinet Panel on the Environment (Item 79)
SUSTAINABILITY SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING DOCUMENT (SPD)
To receive an update on the Sustainability SPD before consideration by Cabinet.
Decision:
A presentation was received from the Strategic Planning Team on the Sustainability Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).
Minutes:
Audio recording – 17:10
The Strategic Planning Officer provided an update, with slides and advised:
· The Sustainability Strategic Planning Document (SPD) provided detailed advice and guidance on policies within the Local Plan.
· The SPD was not part of the Development Plan but would be a material consideration for planning applications.
· Sustainability referred to the means by which we meet our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
· The scope of the SPD included passive design, transport, water and materials.
· The SPD provided technical guidance in areas such as climate change mitigations, energy efficiency, sustainable locations and transport.
· Benchmarks would be set for developers. Bronze indicated that the developer was policy compliant, with Silver and Gold showing developers who had gone higher than what was required in the Local Plan.
· There would be a mandatory requirement of 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) from November. This was included in the SPD with 10% BNG representing Bronze or baseline requirement and higher gains considered Silver or Gold.
· Further detail on different scales and types of development was provided in the appendix.
· The draft SPD was due to be presented to Cabinet in November. Subject to approval by Cabinet, the SPD would go out for consultation.
The following participants asked questions:
· Councillor Michael Muir
· Deolinda Eltringham
· John Webb
· Councillor Steve Jarvis
· Roger Lovegrove
· Councillor Amy Allen
· Councillor Chris Hinchliff
· Julia Sonander
In response to the questions, the Strategic Planning Officer and Strategic Planning Manager advised:
· The SPD would not be able to enforce the building of solar panels on south-facing roofs, but it could be considered in the upcoming Local Plan Review.
· There were opportunities for developers to be encouraged to make these more sustainable decisions.
· The SPD included a section on providing energy efficient appliances within homes, however gas supply could not be ruled out completely.
· The SPD could not introduce wholly new policies at this stage. The Bronze, Silver and Gold approach was aimed at strongly encouraging developers to make provision to meet higher standards. This would count in their favour in the planning balance when applications were considered.
· The Council was limited on what could be enforced that was not within the current Local Plan. Introducing formal policy or an outright requirement would be for the Local Plan Review.
· Retrofitting was included within the SPD.
Councillor Amy Allen commented that some gas supply infrastructure needed to be kept as there could be a switchover to alternatives in the future, and it would be advantageous to keep the infrastructure in place.
Councillor Steve Jarvis commented that the gas industry was keen to replace methane with hydrogen, but there were issues with its production. It would be much more efficient to use renewable energy through a heat pump.
Deolinda Eltringham commented that the use of hydrogen gas had many issues, such as the production of nitrogen dioxide and leaks.