Policy PO12 of the New Local Plan Preferred Options document sets out the Council's preferred option for a framework to support the reduction of carbon emissions within the District and ensure that buildings are resilient to the potential impacts of Climate Change.
While we welcome the Council's commitment to sustainable development, a requirement in Policy PO12 to seek a 20% reduction in carbon emissions from developments of 100sqm or more, may not be the appropriate mechanism for achieving sustainability and energy efficiency within new developments.
Paragraph 95 of the NPPF states that "when setting any local requirement for a buildings sustainability, do so in a way consistent with the Government's zero carbon buildings policy and adopt nationally described standards".
The Government's Zero Carbon Buildings Policy is being implemented through the Building Regulations. Therefore in the absence of robust viability evidence to support a target for reduction in carbon emissions, adopting Building Regulations standards would be more appropriate as the local energy standard for carbon reductions. On this basis, the requirement in PO12 to seek a 20% reduction in carbon emissions should be removed.
Paragraph 158 of the NPPF clearly states that "each local planning authority should ensure that the Local Plan is based on adequate, up-to-date and relevant evidence" and strategies should "take full account of relevant market and economic signals."
It is unclear as to how the 20% target for reduction in carbon emissions in Policy PO12 has been derived from the three separate evidence base studies. We would also highlight that these studies have been completed in advance of the NPPF and therefore does not consider the policies as stated in paragraphs 95, 158 and 173, nor do they consider the impact of significant changes to Building Regulations.
Paragraph 173 of the NPPF states that "sites should not be subject to such a scale of obligations and policy burdens that their ability to be developed viably is threatened." We feel that in its current form, the policy could be overly onerous and could therefore threaten the viability of a development.
Notwithstanding the above, there is no indication within Policy PO12 as to what the baseline is for assessing a 20% reduction in carbon emissions. Whilst it is assumed that the baseline would be the existing 2010 Building Regulations, the council should be aware that they have no evidence to demonstrate the impact of a 20% reduction above this standard.
Furthermore, whilst Policy PO12 states that non residential developments will be required to meet BREEAM standards, no indication is provided as to what level of BREEAM standard would be sought. As with the target for reduction in carbon emissions, no assessment of viability within the supporting evidence base to qualify a requirement to meet BREEAM standards.