Agenda item

The original Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Dilks at the meeting of Full Council held on 27 January 2022 was referred to the Climate Change Action Group for further consideration. The Climate Change Action Group met on 15 February 2022, with the draft minutes from that meeting attached to this agenda pack, and the following revised Motion is proposed as follows:

“I welcome the cross-party support and in particular meetings with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Planning Policy and the assistant Director of Planning that has brought about this amended motion and I recognise the work of the Climate Change Action Group.  This amended motion seeks to confirm and strengthen Climate Change mitigation considerations when determining major planning applications across South Kesteven.

This Council resolves:

1)  Planning Committee reports to clearly set out any climate change mitigation or adaption measures where they are proposed as part of a development proposal;

2)  The desire for development proposals to address climate change and sustainability will be emphasised during pre-application discussions;

3)  That the challenges of climate change are addressed through the local plan review.  This will be an opportunity to develop policies that mitigate climate change by reducing emissions as well as adapting to a changing climate.  The planning policy team will work with the Council’s Climate Change Action group to seek feedback throughout this process;

4)  That the use of technical advice notes to complement the recently adopted Design Guide will be explored.  Advice notes would help inform developers of the Council’s expectations and provide guidance around how they can address the climate change challenges through their development proposals;

5)  That the Council will write to Government to lobby and encourage them to do more through legislation and guidance, including planning and building control, to ensure that climate change and adaption challenges are dealt with by taking a top down approach to policy making.  Government should also do more to require developers to proactively address climate change challenges by reducing carbon emissions.”

The original Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Phil Dilks at the meeting of Full Council held on 27 January 2022 was referred to the Climate Change Action Group for further consideration. The Climate Change Action Group met on 15 February 2022, and the following revised Motion was proposed by Councillor Dilks:

“I welcome the cross-party support and in particular meetings with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Planning Policy and the assistant Director of Planning that has brought about this amended motion and I recognise the work of the Climate Change Action Group.  This amended motion seeks to confirm and strengthen Climate Change mitigation considerations when determining major planning applications across South Kesteven.

This Council resolves:

1)  Planning Committee reports to clearly set out any climate change mitigation or adaption measures where they are proposed as part of a development proposal;

2)  The desire for development proposals to address climate change and sustainability will be emphasised during pre-application discussions;

3)  That the challenges of climate change are addressed through the local plan review.  This will be an opportunity to develop policies that mitigate climate change by reducing emissions as well as adapting to a changing climate.  The planning policy team will work with the Council’s Climate Change Action group to seek feedback throughout this process;

4)  That the use of technical advice notes to complement the recently adopted Design Guide will be explored.  Advice notes would help inform developers of the Council’s expectations and provide guidance around how they can address the climate change challenges through their development proposals;

5)  That the Council will write to Government to lobby and encourage them to do more through legislation and guidance, including planning and building control, to ensure that climate change and adaption challenges are dealt with by taking a top down approach to policy making.  Government should also do more to require developers to proactively address climate change challenges by reducing carbon emissions.”

In presenting the motion, Councillor Dilks explained that the motion had been originally proposed from his perspective as a member of the Planning Committee where he had found there to be some hypocrisy when considering aspects of some planning applications without taking climate change into account in the knowledge that the Council had itself declared a climate change emergency.

Councillor Nick Robins seconded the motion and welcomed the cross-party collaboration that had occurred on this issue. He agreed that planning was a vital tool to challenge climate change and that new policies should be developed to address issues and expectations relating to climate change, building on the work of the Climate Change Action Group and ensure that this was a key consideration in the development of the next Local Plan.

Councillor Robins proposed an amendment to paragraph 5 of the motion to include reference to South Kesteven Members of Parliament. This was accepted by the mover of the original motion and became the substantive motion.

In debating the substantive motion, the following points were noted:

·         Until sufficient legislation was in place the role of the Local Planning Authority was limited, however, the lobbying proposed as part of the motion was supported

·         The Climate Change Action Group should meet at least quarterly

·         The Council had a very competent Climate Change Officer on its establishment and the expertise of a Professor at the University of Lincoln who would add value to the Council’s climate change considerations

·         It was frustrating that the current legislation was not robust enough in this area

·         The Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee had recently recommended a range of measures in respect of its new build properties to address climate change which would not only help the Council address the climate change emergency declaration but also deliver savings to tenants

Upon being put to the vote, the substantive motion was AGREED.

DECISION:

This Council resolves:

1.    Planning Committee reports to clearly set out any climate change mitigation or adaption measures where they are proposed as part of a development proposal.

2.    The desire for development proposals to address climate change and sustainability will be emphasised during pre-application discussions.

3.    That the challenges of climate change are addressed through the local plan review.  This will be an opportunity to develop policies that mitigate climate change by reducing emissions as well as adapting to a changing climate.  The planning policy team will work with the Council’s Climate Change Action group to seek feedback throughout this process.

4.    That the use of technical advice notes to complement the recently adopted Design Guide will be explored. Advice notes would help inform developers of the Council’s expectations and provide guidance around how they can address the climate change challenges through their development proposals.

5.    That the Council will write to South Kesteven Members of Parliament and Government to lobby and encourage them to do more through legislation and guidance, including planning and building control, to ensure that climate change and adaption challenges are dealt with by taking a top down approach to policy making.  Government should also do more to require developers to proactively address climate change challenges by reducing carbon emissions.