The London Borough of Merton was the first local authority in the UK to include a policy in its Unitary Development Plan requiring ‘all new non-residential development above a threshold of 1,000m2…to incorporate renewable energy
production equipment to provide at least 10% of predicted energy requirements’.
Recognising that a one size fits all policy is not the answer Merton is developing a guidance matrix (as part of an SPD on sustainable design and construction) that will act as an advice document for interpreting the ‘at least 10%’ section of the policy. It will be subdivide into percentage targets for different types of development, linked to increasing annual targets (non- compound). Merton has now revised the policy for their draft LDF to so that all development over 75m2 of one or more residential units will have to meet the policy. The policy requires the use of renewable energy to cut predicted CO2 emissions by at least 10%, rather than to generate 10% of energy use.
There was initial opposition to the policy from Government
This map highlights those local authorities that have adopted, or are in the process of adopting similar policies to the Merton Rule.
Office London and the ODPM over concerns about its legalities under the Town and Country Planning Act and enforcement of renewables through Building Regulations. Merton formed an alliance with environmental and other organisations to explain the benefits of the policy and was instrumental in persuading the Government to confirm in Planning Policy Statement 22, both the legality of such policies, and its desire to see other boroughs emulate them.
This radical policy has ensured that similar renewable energy policies have become embedded into the mainstream and demonstrated the power of local governments.
‘The key to the nation wide success of the policy was its timing. It was easily replicable and answered the frustration of many younger generation planners across the country who have been wanting to bring about similar change in the policy’. Adrian Hewitt, the Climate Change Strategy and Project Manager at London Borough of Merton, on the Merton Rule.
Fully adopted KEY
Included in draft
Actively progressing
Policies should be described in more detail in associated development plan documents, including supplementary planning documents or area action plans. Dedicated development plan documents on aspects of sustainable communities should establish the planning framework in greater detail. This will provide planning officers with the powers to implement policies and strategies, and offer detailed guidance for those implementing policies through development.
Local authorities across England are currently beginning to introduce a range of planning policy requirements. These include:
• Carbon reductions from on-site renewables (the Merton Rule)
• Compulsory connections to district heat or power networks
• Minimum Code for Sustainable Homes (or BREEAM) scores
• Minimum scores using regional sustainability checklists • Minimum percentages of affordable homes
• Minimum Building for Life score • Secured by Design accreditation • Lifetime Homes accreditation
• Green Flag accreditation for parks and urban green spaces
• Policies aimed at reducing the need to travel by unsustainable modes
Rather than reinventing the wheel, local authorities should use existing standards where possible, agreeing adaptations where necessary to fit with regional and local context.
Area action plans provide the opportunity to set additional targets for specific sites, which can be tailored to the site conditions and local aspirations. These can focus attention on the relationships between different aspects of sustainable development and help to address any conflicts – between climate change mitigation, adaptation, space and recreation, and biodiversity, for example.
Leadership 015
Strong political commitment at the local level can demonstrate leadership and reinforce the need for action across communities. Leadership should be demonstrated through a sustainable development policy framework, adopted at the highest level. One way of doing this is to bring council leaders together to sign the local authority up to the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change. This sets out headline targets, a vision and a strategy for action. It will also be possible to broaden a declaration to cover other elements of sustainable place-making. The Energy Saving Trust has created an online pack to help authorities wishing to sign up.
(See www.energysavingtrust.org.uk)
KEY MESSAGES FOR SECTION 1.3
1 Good design can help create places which bring together all elements of sustainability.
2 Some aspects of sustainability can be hard to measure. That does not mean they should be dismissed.
3 Many valid standards exist. These should be incorporated at national, regional and local levels to demand more from development.
REFERENCES
1. Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future. 2003. ODPM
2. Directive on the energy performance of buildings. 2002. European Parliament
3. Directive on strategic environmental assessment. 2004. European Parliament
4. Policy Planning Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development. 2005. ODPM
Places that grow true to their locality are likely to be sustainable, enjoyable and to attract investment – intellectual, cultural and financial. An appreciation of local climate, urban form, culture, topography, building types and materials is necessary to nurture local distinctiveness.
Policies should not promote pastiche developments. They should provide an understanding of what has come before and, based on this, what is likely to be appropriate in the future.
At a time when many places are beginning to look alike, effective urban design policies and strategies have the potential to reinforce local character and create places with a real sense of identity. It is possible to identify those assets worth protecting and build this into policy, even if neighbourhoods cannot always be saved from unwanted change.
1.4.1 The roots of character
More than aesthetic dressing 016New development achieves local distinctiveness, character and identity too rarely. Creating a distinctive character is often thought of as an aesthetic dressing, reduced to a limited range of vernacular building types, local materials and colours, draped over a structure of cul-de-sacs and loop roads that is alien to the locality. Table 1.4 sets out the most useful tools for reinforcing identity.
Urban structure
Success in delivering new development with a strong sense of local identity is much more likely if the roots of character are recognised in the urban structure: the relationship between landscape, settlement and movement. Movement patterns form the framework for our experience of place.
Character and sustainability
There is a direct link between local character and sustainable development. Local identity and sustainable
development are both achieved by making full use of the resources immediately at hand: reducing, reusing and recycling.
Movement and character
If movement and the resulting pattern of routes is basic to our experience of place, retaining or creating the character of a place should be based on the characteristics of the movement pattern: its connections, its hierarchies, its geometry and its relation to topography.
Retaining existing features
Retaining existing features on a site, either in substance, position or alignment, is often far more effective in creating a tangible sense of character than a pastiche design (drawing on parts of other works, or elements of various local styles) would be. Features to be taken into consideration include existing uses and buildings, topography, watercourses, routes, boundaries and trees.
Knowing what to retain and how to make best use of it will depend on careful appraisal work to determine the benefits likely to be achieved and the resources required. A sustainability appraisal may help in striking the balance.
Reconnecting to the hinterland
Adapting landscapes and finding multiple uses for them can help make a place that is both locally distinctive and sustainable. Local ecologies will be an important part of character. Landscape and countryside, the hinterlands of urban areas, are not merely visual assets but, in the wider sense, the basis for urban development. They have a role in recreation, open space, producing food and energy, providing habitats, managing surface water, and screening and buffering development.
Site appraisals should examine the potential for all these functions, and appropriate proposals should be incorporated into a green infrastructure strategy.
CHARACTER AND IDENTITY
1.4.1 The roots of character
1.4.2 Building and indentity
1.4.3 Town centres
Scale Tool Purpose Regional or
sub-regional
Character study A promotional tool which can be used to provide vision and guidance on how new development can retain unique aspects of local character
Regional or sub-regional
Design guide or initiative Promotes high design quality and standards. Potential for adoption at local level as a supplementary planning document (SPD)
Local Tall buildings policy and
guidance
Identifies appropriate location for tall buildings and appropriate scale and mix of uses. Enables protection of historic environments
Local
(supplementary planning document, SPD)
Public art policy and guidance
Guidance on how public arts can promote local character and identity by creating a sense of place and engaging local communities
Local
(SPD)
Shopfronts policy and guidance
Guidance on how shopfronts can reinforce the character of town centres
Local
(SPD)
Industrial, retail, commercial policy and guidance
Guidance on how development can make a positive contribution to local environment
Local
(SPD)
Policy and guidance on house extensions
Guidance on how house extensions can reflect local character
Village Village design guide Produced by local communities to identify local character and set out
design guidance for new development. They usually focus on landscape, settlement shape and buildings
Neighbourhood Conservation area Protects and enhances the quality of the environment through controls
on demolition, new development, trees and satellite dishes. Can also limit permitted development
Site Design code Can reinforce site characteristics through use of specified colours, materials and species