Planning and Climate Change –
briefing notes for planners and Local Strategic Partnerships
Introduction
There is now a scientific consensus about the evidence for
global climate change and its causes that has been explained by eleven leading national
scientific academies, including the Royal
Society. In a joint statement, released on 7th June 2005, they
concluded: “We urge all nations, in the line with the UNFCCC principles, to take
prompt action to reduce the causes of climate change, adapt to its impacts and
ensure that the issue is included in all relevant national and international
strategies. As national science academies, we commit to working with
governments to help develop and implement the national and international
response to the challenge of climate change”.
In its own effort to solve this urgent problem, the UK Government
is committed to securing sustainable development, for which the internationally
accepted definition is ‘to ensure that it meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs’.
Sustainability Appraisal is a process used to audit how
sustainable development is being incorporated into strategies for development,
such as a Local Development Framework and is a part of the new planning system
that is being introduced following the passage into law of the Planning and
Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and associated regulations. In general terms, the sustainable practices necessary to
achieve sustainable development will be those that create the conditions for
humanity to live on environmental income (i.e. taking from the environment only
what the biosphere can replenish) whilst simultaneously maintaining our
environmental capital in good condition so that it is available for the
potential use of future generations (i.e. maintaining or improving the
‘carrying capacity’ of the planet) and this concept underpins the UK Government
Sustainable Development Strategy ‘Securing the future’, published in March 2005.
To meet this challenge and pass the test of sustainability
appraisal, both planners and developers need to take into consideration three
new problems, which are shown below as questions and answers (Q & A):
1. Economic
Q: How do we regenerate without using fossil fuels and other
resources taken from the earth’s crust that cannot be replenished?
A: By using the materials available to us more efficiently
and recycling them for future use.
2. Environmental
Q: How do we maintain the biosphere we depend on?
A: By taking account of the effects our actions have on
other life-forms and taking steps to maintain existing biodiversity.
3. Social
Q: How do we make the necessary economic & environmental
changes without causing major social distress, in particular, increasing loss
of life and poverty?
A: By involving everybody in the decision making process so
that all are aware of the potential social effects of our actions and can
contribute to the search for sustainable solutions.
Mechanisms for Sustainability Appraisal & Measurement of Outcomes
The perceived need for the guidance contained in this paper
has arisen as a result of questions and comments made by some key interested
parties:
- Parish
Councillors (speaking through the Staffordshire
Parish Councils Association and its Local Area Committees) have pointed
out that it is difficult for them to comment about the current sustainability
appraisal process because they do not understand the relationship between
the questions asked and the essential problem being faced (i.e. Planning
for Climate Change)
- Developers
are already seeking a formula to demonstrate that they have conducted
their own sustainability appraisal prior to making an application that
will meet the requirements of the new planning regulations (e.g. Halcrow acting for St Modwen
in relation to a development at Trentham Lakes)
- Councillors for Boroughs, Districts and the County who
are worried about the affect that sustainability appraisal will have on
the ability to achieve other strategic objectives (e.g. having sufficient
land available for economic regeneration in Stafford Borough)
The County’s Sustainability Champion (Guy
Corbett-Marshall) has suggested that Sustainable
Staffordshire, as the County-wide forum for expertise on the problems of
climate change and sustainability, might be able to offer guidance to Planning
Authorities involved in the Stoke-on-Trent and
Staffordshire Strategic Partnership. The table, below, aims to answer the
questions set out in the introduction, above, by offering a broad framework
that includes several different ways that the key components of sustainable
development might be addressed and suggesting ways that progress can be
measured within the context of achieving broader, economic, environmental and
social aims. This should assist in the production of simpler and more
understandable Local Development Frameworks and is presented for discussion by
planners, developers and other strategic partners
Paul Newman
Chair, Sustainable Staffordshire
June 2005
