Regulation 18 Draft Local Plan

Support

Representation ID: 589

Received: 20/03/2024

Respondent: Churchill Retirement Living

The Council's commitment to meeting both its and the UK Government's target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is commendable. The wording of any future policy should encourage developers to maximize opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but not mandate enhanced standards above those in the Building Standards. There is considerable momentum from Government in preparing enhanced sustainability standards through The Future Homes Standards and it is clear the energy efficiency requirements for domestic and non-domestic buildings will increase sharply in the coming years. This will be a considerable challenge for the house-building industry who will require time to develop the materials and the skills necessary to build zero carbon homes in the volumes required to meet housing need.
Aligning the Council's requirement for carbon neutral development with those of Government would therefore be welcomed

Object

Representation ID: 590

Received: 20/03/2024

Respondent: Churchill Retirement Living

The consultation has not made a Local Plan Viability Assessment (LPVA) publicly available. There is therefore no evidence demonstrating that the affordable housing requirements in Policy H2 are viable. We would highlight that the respondents were surprised that a Planning Authority would choose to publish a (Regulation 18) Local Plan without having ascertained that the policies within it are deliverable. We consider that by limiting scrutiny of the Local Plan Viability Assessment to the Regulation 19 consultation the Council is reducing the opportunities for comment on a crucial element of the evidence base and the Local Plan is less robust as a consequence. By limiting the opportunities for comment of the Local Plan Viability Assessment we are of the view that the Council has deviated substantially from national guidance and the Local Plan is not considered positively prepared, justified, effective and crucially is consistent with national policy.

Support

Representation ID: 591

Received: 20/03/2024

Respondent: Churchill Retirement Living

The Council support of specialist older persons' housing in subclause a) of this policy is highly commendable and supported as such.