Agenda item

Public questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee.  The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda.  The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond. Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select -committees/

Mr Chadwick has submitted the following question:

Could the Cabinet Member or Officers please confirm that all relevant policies within the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan will contribute towards the urgent goals of reducing carbon emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Would you agree that these considerations cut across many areas of policy, including, in particular, housing, transport, and environment, but others, too - and thus that a coordinated and coherent approach across the piece is required? What structures and expertise are in place within the planning policy team to achieve this?

In particular, given the significant number of new homes to be built, will you be looking to put in place policies to require Passivhaus (zero carbon) standards of energy efficiency by early in the Plan period, and if not, why not? 

Mr Alan Thawley has submitted the following question:

Given that skills relating to the net-zero transition in construction will play an ever-increasing role in the economy, how is the council supporting local businesses to acquire these skills, either by ensuring that the relevant training is provided and accessible, or by supporting the growing market?

 To this end, given that we have to date been unable to require developments to do more than meet the minimum requirements set by government through planning, will the council commit to ensuring the developments it instigates itself (through Consilio Property, for instance or on council-owned land in Stoke Mandeville), will be required to be built to zero-carbon standards rather than vaguely promising to be 'energy efficient'?

The Select Committee had received two public questions.

Question from Mr Chadwick

Could the Cabinet Member or Officers please confirm that all relevant policies within the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan will contribute towards the urgent goals of reducing carbon emissions, and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Would you agree that these considerations cut across many areas of policy, including, in particular, housing, transport, and environment, but others, too - and thus that a coordinated and coherent approach across the piece is required? What structures and expertise are in place within the planning policy team to achieve this?

In particular, given the significant number of new homes to be built, will you be looking to put in place policies to require Passivhaus (zero carbon) standards of energy efficiency by early in the Plan period, and if not, why not?

Cllr Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration provided a response, making the following main points:

• The Council has a statutory and local obligation to mitigate and to adapt to climate change and reduce carbon.  The Council has a climate change policy aiming to achieve a net zero carbon position in Buckinghamshire by 2050. Climate change will be an integral part of the Local Plan and will be embedded into the policies therein.
• It was acknowledged that this is cross-cutting and a Cabinet Member has been appointed to oversee the climate change agenda across the Council. The Planning Policy team will work closely with the environment and climate change team to produce robust and effective Local Plan policies.
• There is a climate change lead officer within the Planning Policy team who will liaise with the Council’s environmental specialists on urban design, ecology, the natural environment, arboriculture and other relevant disciplines.
• The Local Plan for Buckinghamshire is in the early stages of production.  The plan provides us with the opportunity to develop a range of new policies that, collectively, will reduce carbon dioxide emissions and encourage renewable and low carbon energy in Buckinghamshire.
• At the national level, the government introduced “The Future Homes Standard” in 2019 which will replace the current Building Regulations.  It proposes that from 2025 new homes built to the Future Homes Standard will have carbon dioxide emissions at least 75% lower than those built to the current Building Regulation standards.

Question from Mr Thawley

Given that skills relating to the net-zero transition in construction will play an ever-increasing role in the economy, how is the council supporting local businesses to acquire these skills, either by ensuring that the relevant training is provided and accessible, or by supporting the growing market? To this end, given that we have to date been unable to require developments to do more than meet the minimum requirements set by government through planning, will the council commit to ensuring the developments it instigates itself (through Consilio Property, for instance or on council-owned land in Stoke Mandeville), will be required to be built to zero-carbon standards rather than vaguely promising to be 'energy efficient'?

Cllr Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration provided a response, making the following main points:

• With circa 5000 people on the waiting list for social housing, the Council has to be mindful of the provision of affordable homes alongside the zero-carbon commitment that the Council has made.
• This means inevitably that there will be a tension between affordability of a development and climate change goals.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for his responses to the public questions.