7.1 One of the overarching aims of land use planning is encapsulated by the NPPF environment objective “to protect and enhance our natural, built and historic environment; including making effective use of land, improving biodiversity, using natural resources prudently, minimising waste and pollution, and mitigating and adapting to climate change, including moving to a low carbon economy.”.
7.2 There is no doubting the significance of this aim particularly for a coastal location, as we face climate and nature emergencies, and its consequences particularly from rising sea levels. In response to this, Weymouth Town Council declared a local climate and ecological emergency in 2019. It committed to making the Council’s activities net zero carbon by 2030, which included ensuring all planning comments to Dorset Council are consistent with a shift to net-zero carbon by 2030.
7.3 Consistent with the Town Council’s declaration and action plan is the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan that promotes sustainable development and is pro-active in its approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change, including building community resilience by taking into account the long-term implications for flood risk, coastal change, water supply, biodiversity and landscapes, and the risk of overheating from rising temperatures. This is in line with the requirements of NPPF para. 158, which demands that “policies should support appropriate measures to ensure the future resilience of communities and infrastructure to climate change impacts, such as providing space for physical protection measures, or making provision for the possible future relocation of vulnerable development and infrastructure”.
7.4 The vision for our plan envisages a “resilient coastal community”. Community resilience in the context of the Neighbourhood Plan means robust, well-insulated buildings with on-site renewable energy and rainwater harvesting; housing sites with growing space, joined up walking and cycling infrastructure to help promote active travel, tree cover and rich biodiversity. It also means the ability to reliably access local services such as public transport and utility services such as power, water, and fibre broadband. Wherever required, it also means physical flood protection and effective sustainable drainage systems.
7.5 The environmental sustainability objectives were presented to the community in January 2023 as “strategic environmental objectives” that would, if supported, “have influence on all aspects of the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan”. All four objectives received a substantial endorsement from the people of Weymouth. On that basis it has been agreed to adopt them for the Neighbourhood Plan and, in recognition of their significance and relevance to the most pressing issue of our times, regard them as cross-cutting objectives, which should influence the content and interpretation of all the policies in the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan.
7.6 The cross-cutting objectives and supporting environmental targets (see Appendix A) are intended to apply across the Neighbourhood Plan in accordance with policy W00. It is acknowledged that there are restrictions on the extent that high standards can be imposed by planning policy. In many instances therefore we have only been able to advocate and encourage the achievement of standards and finishes higher than are statutorily required. We must rely on the development industry to recognise what we aspire to as a community, and what we expect from new development, and urge them to work with us to achieve the cross-cutting objectives and supporting environmental targets for the sake of the town, its inhabitants, and visitors.
7.7 To guide development proposals in their attainment of the cross-cutting objectives, the Town Council ‘noted’ the ‘Strategic (now renamed Supporting) Environmental Targets at Full Council on 27th September 2023. These are consistent with national policy, and based on what is considered relevant and achievable locally. They are contained in Appendix A, which must be referred to when preparing development proposals. The document presents what are considered to be acceptable and reasonable targets for each of the cross-cutting objectives in current circumstances and in the Weymouth situation. Developers will be expected to achieve and, hopefully, exceed the set targets.
7.8 Following Regulation 14 consultation during the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan process, a number of amendments, mainly on points of detail or clarification, were made to the ‘Targets’ document including a decision to refer to them as ‘Supporting Environmental Targets’. If adopted by Weymouth Town Council as the Qualifying Body as part of the Neighbourhood Plan, they should be reviewed periodically using a recognised measurement tool and be kept up to date throughout the plan period. It should take account of changing national policy and targets, what has taken place and developer’s feedback, and what appears to be possible and achievable. That said, given the climate emergency, it should remain firm in intent and its duty to exert whatever influence it can on addressing the impacts of climate change and securing the future resilience of our area and communities.
7.9 “Any plan made now that does not consider radical reductions in carbon and help build our resilience to things like flooding will simply not be fit for purpose.” - Centre for Sustainable Energy Guide to Neighbourhood Planning in a Climate Emergency 2020.30 The 31 Supporting Environmental Targets are summarised in the table on page 26. Many have been quantified (see Appendix A). Developers are strongly advised to refer to this document for an explanation of the targets, their purpose and derivations, and an understanding of the target numbers and proportions, where they have been set.
7.10 The environmental credentials of the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan will be assessed firstly through the SEA process (see para. 5.9) but also through a self-assessment exercise following guidance from the Centre for Sustainable Energy31. The results of the self-assessment are contained in a report “How Green is my Plan32”. The final self-assessment for this plan scored highly and deemed it to be a candidate for a national case study.
7.11 Included with the policy statements and supporting text throughout the Neighbourhood Plan you will find an indication of which targets are considered most relevant to the specific policy.
Policy W00: Environmental Targets
Proposals for development should aim to meet the Relevant Environmental Objectives and aspire to achieve the Environmental Targets in the Table below and, where appropriate, Appendix A of the Plan.
| Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan – Environmental Targets | ||
| Objective 1: Carbon Neutrality | ||
| 1 | Energy Consumption | Achieve set use-related energy consumption targets |
| 2 | Zero Carbon | Meet set zero carbon deadlines |
| 3 | Renewable Energy Use | Promote renewable energy use and energy savings |
| 4 | Zero Carbon Measures | Embrace energy efficient technology |
| 5 | BREEAM Standards | Achieve high BREEAM rating |
| 6 | Insulation | Meet high standards of insulation |
| 7 | Design and Construction | Adopt energy efficient design |
| 8 | Air Tightness | Achieve high level of air tightness |
| Objective 2: Resource Efficiency | ||
| 9 | Heating and Hot Water Systems | Adopt electric-based heating and hot water systems |
| 10 | Water Usage | Minimise unnecessary water usage |
| 11 | Energy Efficient Design | Achieve set energy efficient design standards |
| 12 | Refurbishment and re-use | Prioritise refurbishment/re-use over new build |
| 13 | Usage | Design building structure for 100% utilisation |
| 14 | Recycled Materials | Prioritise materials that are re-used/reclaimed |
| 15 | Flexibility and Adaptability | Demonstrate design flexibility and adaptability |
| 16 | Carbon Sequestering | Use carbon sequestering materials |
| 17 | Retrofit Targets | Adopt set energy targets for retrofit buildings. |
| 18 | Retrofit Specification | Adopt set retro-fit standard |
| 19 | Carbon Dependency Reduction | Reduce heat source carbon dependency |
| 20 | Retrofit Priorities | Prioritise retrofit measures |
| 21 | Energy Efficient Fabric | Meet set energy efficient design standards |
| Objective 3: Biodiversity Net Gain | ||
| 22 | Green and Blue Infrastructure | Meet set green/blue infrastructure target |
| 23 | Biodiversity Gain | Exceed minimum set Biodiversity Net Gain |
| 24 | Tree Canopy | Increase urban tree canopy to meet set target |
| 25 | Grassland Management | Achieve set management targets |
| Objective 4: Climate Change Management | ||
| 26 | Sustainable Drainage Systems | Incorporate SuDS into all new development sites |
| 27 | Waste Reduction | Minimise waste |
| 28 | Waste Recovery | Include adequate waste recycling facilities |
| 29 | Equipment | Use safe equipment which is Class A energy-rated |
| 30 | Contracts | Include a site waste management plan |
| 31 | Transport | Facilitate sustainable transport use |
30 CSE - Neighbourhood Planning in a Climate Emergency - February 2020
31 CSE - How green is my plan? Urband & Suburban
32 How Green Is My Plan Submission Final Version
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