Climate change environmental planning challenges

1
Climate change - environmental planning challenges

• Mark Southgate
• Head of Planning and Local Government

2
Climate change - environmental challenges

• The Environment Agency and spatial planning
• Climate change - some planning issues
• Planning challenges
• Conclusions

3
Environment Agency and planning

• Better environment for England and Wales for
  present and future generations
• Environmental advisor - related to operational
  functions, expertise and information
• Consultee, not regulator
• Legislation, policy, development plans,
  applications, appraisal and schemes
• 160 planning staff, 60,000 consultations pa
• Risk-based approach, focus on plans

4
Climate change - planning issues

• Avoiding and reducing flood risk
• Water resources
• Water quality
• Biodiversity
• Coastal planning
• Positive planning - enhancement

5
Mitigation vs adaptation

• Mitigation
• Resource (esp energy) efficiency
• Sustainable transport
• Water efficiency measures
• Adaptation
• Avoidance of high flood-risk areas
• Flood resilient building and infrastructure
• SUDS

6
Flooding - past events

• Easter 1998
• 5 deaths 400m damage
• Autumn 2000
• 1 billion damage
• August 2004 - Boscastle
• January 2005 - Carlisle
• 2 deaths

7
Flooding

• Natural process
• Cannot be totally prevented or defended against
• 5 million people live in floodplains
• 1.8 million homes 185,000 businesses

8
Foresight - Future flooding

• Economic scenarios
• Global temp rise
• More frequent flooding - urban
• Sea level rise
• Increased storms
• Coastal erosion
• www.foresight.gov.uk

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Role of planning
Decisions taken now will have a profound impact
on the size of flooding risks that future
generations will need to manage
Foresight report, 2004
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Planning - reducing flood risk

• Where possible to reduce, and certainly not add
  to, the overall level of flood risk
• Flood defence to flood management
• Focus on probability and consequence
• Avoid development that increases flood risk, or
  that creates it elsewhere
• Plan-led - look for suitable alternatives
• Strategic Flood Risk Assessment

11
Water resources
Water resources supply-demand balance Zones with
a deficit between now and 2015 (without climate
change)
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Scenarios 2010, 2015 and 202532,000 houses pa,
8 efficiency new resources
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Water resources

• Wealden District Council (Policy EN5)
• New development will only be permitted where
  adequate water resources are available and where
  it would not present an unacceptable risk to
  such resources.
• (Wealden Local Plan, Adopted December 1998)

14
Sustainable construction

• Energy, water, waste
• 25 savings in water energy - Building
  Regulations
• Better align planning and Building Regulations
• Code for Sustainable Building (CoSB)

15
Merton renewable energy policy

• Policy E13
• Employment developments - new industry,
  warehousing, office and live/work units above
  1,000 sq m
• Expected to incorporate renewable energy
  production equipment to provide at least 10 of
  predicted energy requirements
• PPS22 - Renewable Energy (para 8)

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Water Framework DirectiveRiver Basins

• Good ecological status
• Statutory plans - 2009
• Cover all water bodies
• Summarise protection and restoration measures
  required
• Provide the mechanism to manage future water use
  and activities

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Water Quality - Scenario testing

• EA and water companies identifying STWs where
  concerns about treatment/ environmental capacity

STW Hotspot Map
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Planning and WFD

• Wide area focus - beyond LPAs
• Guidance awareness raising with LAs
• Evidence base - for SA/SEA
• Policies in plans now! - 2007 vs 2009
• Share policy best practice
• Political support - national policy
• WFD and planning initial advice

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Climate change -planning response

• Act now - impacts are with us now
• Make the links - actions required for more than
  just climate change
• Spread the word - raise awareness
• Make the best of existing tools - eg SA
• Make effective use of existing instruments

20
Conclusions

• Sustainable development duty
• Long time horizons - plan-led, vision
• Spatial plans
• SA/SEA, evidence base
• Environmental capacity and limits
• Public participation
• Planning vs Building Regulations
• Awareness raising, political leadership