Posted on 25/04/12 by admin
Climate UK is proud to support the publication of the first sector-led environmental planning guidance of its kind since the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) took effect last month. The guide is being launched in Parliament today by the Planning and Climate Change Coalition. The Coalition represents over 35 cross-sector organisations and is led by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and Friends of the Earth.
Download ‘Planning for climate change’
The Government’s far-ranging planning system reforms, through the Localism Act and the NPPF signal a major shift of responsibility to local authority and community levels in England. Planning for climate change – guidance for local authorities is designed to respond to this agenda and is aimed primarily at local authorities, private sector practitioners, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Local Nature Partnerships who want both to tackle climate change and to reap the positive economic benefits that solutions such as renewable energy, sustainable transport and building flood resilience can bring.
Hugh Ellis, TCPA Chief Planner, said:
“With the radical shift in power to the local level, councils and communities will have both the responsibility and the opportunity to deal with climate change. We hope that by choosing to adopt this guidance local authorities cannot only improve the resilience of their communities, but seize the opportunities it provides for economic growth, for example through decentralised energy projects. This guidance is designed explicitly to complement the new National Planning Policy Framework and the grain of Government policy. As a nation we must get to grips with the challenge of climate change and local authorities have a crucial role to play.”
Naomi Luhde-Thompson, Planning Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
“The new planning system needs to help our nation develop clean home-grown sources of power from the wind, sun and water and wean ourselves off increasingly expensive fossil fuels. We hope this new guide will encourage local authorities, businesses and communities to plug into clean British energy – with more Government support to help make this happen.”
The guidance updates the Planning and Climate Change Coalition guide published in 2010 which itself was based on the draft Planning Policy Statement (PPS) on climate and energy, Planning for a Low Carbon Future in a Changing Climate, published in March 2010. *
The guidance has been developed to reflect the Localism Act and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) through cross-sector dialogue, using the wide-ranging expertise of the Planning and Climate Change Coalition.
The Guide is divided into two parts; Part 1 sets the context on climate change, Part 2 offers a set of principles and good practice guidance which local authorities and communities may find helpful in preparing their plans and implementing them through development management.
1. The cross sector Planning and Climate Change Coalition, a joint initiative between the TCPA and Friends of the Earth, was formed in July 2009 and aims:
The Coalition represents over 35 cross sector organizations, including: AECB, the Sustainable Building Association, BioRegional, Birmingham City Council, BRE, Butterfly Conservation, CAG Consultants, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT), Chris Shepley CBE, Chris Tivey Associates, Climate UK, Combined Heat and Power Association, Co-operative Group, Council for British Archaeology, David Howard, Energence Ltd, Friends of the Earth, Gerry Metcalfe, Grasslands Trust, Hugh Roberts, Landscape Institute, Leonora Rozee OBE, LDA Design, LEAP Project, London Borough of Islington, London Borough of Sutton, Lynda Addison OBE, Marks Barfield Architects, National Energy Foundation, National Trust, Oxford Brookes University, Planet Positive, PRP Architects, Renewable Energy Association, Roger Lawes, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Royal Town Planning Institute, Sustain, Sustainability East, Sustrans, Town and Country Planning Association, Urban Roots, White Architects, The Wildlife Trusts and Woodland Trust.