Policy ENV 7: Climate change

  1. Climate change mitigation and adaptation: Development proposals should incorporate measures that can adapt and/or demonstrate resilience to climate change and mitigate its impacts. Development proposals should:
    1. maximise opportunities for both natural heating and ventilation and also reduce exposure to wind and other elements through the orientation and location of buildings;
    2. incorporate measures such as solar shading, thermal mass, heating, cooling, ventilation and appropriately coloured materials in areas exposed to direct sunlight, green and brown roofs and green walls;
    3. incorporate blue and green infrastructure, trees and other planting, to provide opportunities for cooling, shading of amenity areas, buildings and streets and to help to connect habitats, using native plants that are carefully selected so they can be managed and sustained to meet the predicted changed climatic conditions;
    4. include, where possible, opportunities for the growing and sourcing of local food supplies (such as allotments and other community schemes);
    5. incorporate measures that reduce the need to travel and/or support sustainable travel initiatives in line with LPS Policy CO 1 'Sustainable travel and transport';
    6. incorporate water efficiency measures and include appropriate sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) to minimise and manage surface water runoff and its impacts in line with LPS Policy SE 13 'Flood risk and water management' and SADPD Policy ENV 16 'Surface water management and flood risk';
    7. minimise the generation of waste and energy consumption in the design, construction, use and life of buildings and promote more sustainable approaches to waste management, including the reuse and recycling of construction waste and the promotion of layouts and designs that provide adequate, well-designed space to facilitate waste minimisation, reuse, recycling and composting; and
    8. provide space for physical protection measures and/or make provision for the future relocation of vulnerable development and infrastructure, where demonstrated as necessary to ensure the future resilience of communities and infrastructure to climate change impacts.
  2. Energy efficiency: Development proposals should optimise energy efficiency measures in line with LPS Policy SE 9 ‘Energy efficient development’. New build residential development should achieve reductions in CO2 emissions of 19% below the Target Emission Rate of the 2013 Edition of the 2010 Building Regulations (Part L) unless this is superseded by an updated building regulations requirement requiring a higher environmental performance standard or where applicants can demonstrate that it is not viable or feasible to meet the standards.
  3. Decentralised, Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Sources: Development proposals should optimise the use of decentralised energy, renewable or low carbon energy sources in line with LPS Policy SE 8 ‘Renewable and low carbon energy’ and LPS Policy SE 9 ‘Energy efficient development’ with reference to the following minimum standards:
    1. non-residential development over 1,000 sq.m will be expected to secure the minimum standards set out in Criterion 2 of LPS Policy SE 9 ‘Energy efficient development’; and
    2. all ‘major’ residential development schemes should provide for at least 10% of their energy needs from renewable or low carbon energy generation on site unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that having regard to the type of development and its design, this is not feasible or viable.

Supporting information

4.46 The Climate Change Act 2008 introduced a legally binding target for the UK to reduce greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050, against a 1990 baseline. In June 2019, the UK committed to cut emissions to a net zero target by 2050 (relative to the 1990 baseline). The council, in May 2019, committed to be carbon neutral by 2025 and has prepared an Environment Strategy as part of a package of measures to detail how this commitment will be met. The council encourages all businesses, residents and organisations in Cheshire East to reduce their carbon footprint by reducing energy consumption and by promoting healthy lifestyles.

4.47 The planning system has a critical role to play in addressing climate change, in terms of both mitigating its effects and shaping places to cope with its impacts. This policy, building on policies in the LPS and the content of the Environment Strategy, in combination with other policies in the plan, is designed to make sure that development and use of land in the borough contributes to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change impacts. Climate change mitigation measures can also add to the sense of place and the design quality of development. The policy is consistent with the government’s commitment to a more sustainable construction sector in the Industrial Strategy Construction Sector Deal (2018), including its mission to at least halve the energy use of new buildings by 2030.

4.48 In line with LPS Policy SE 8 ‘Renewable and low carbon energy’, the council will look favourably upon development that follows the principles of the Energy Hierarchy, and seeks to achieve a high rating under schemes such as BREEAM (for non-residential development), CEEQUAL (for public-realm development) and Building for a Healthy Life (or as updated).

4.49 The need to mitigate the effects of and adapt to the impacts of climate change should be considered at an early stage in formulating development proposals so appropriate design measures can be incorporated into it to help address these important issues. Many measures, if considered at an early stage, can be included at little or no additional cost in the design and layout of development proposals.

4.50 Information on how a proposal seeks to meet energy efficiency and decentralised energy, renewable and/or low carbon energy standards will need to be provided upfront at the planning application stage through an energy/sustainability statement. The submission will form part of the validation process. The new standards will be applied through planning conditions attached to any permission granted. If sufficient evidence is not submitted at this stage, or during the life of a planning application, a pre-commencement planning condition will be attached to any planning permission to confirm that the development will be able to achieve the required standard prior to construction starting.

4.51 Where viability or feasibility assessments are submitted by an applicant in response to the standards set in the policy, they will be evaluated independently with the cost being borne by the applicant.

Related documents

Policy information

 

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