Agenda item

Matt Butler, Head of Policy & Spatial Planning, explained that the purpose of the report was to highlight the ways in which planning policy promoted the council’s aim to become the greenest borough.

In 2014 the new administration had asked officers to review the local plan to place more of a focus on green issues. The local plan was the main planning policy document which the council used to control development and reduce its negative impacts. A new policy on air quality had been introduced as well as a strengthening policies around carbon dioxide emissions, flood prevention and SUDS, cycle parking, and car free developments. The revised local plan was being consulted on from Friday 16 September 2016 to Friday 28 October 2016.

As well as improving policies officers had tried to engage developers at an earlier stage to allow officers to influence their plans and encourage them to think about the environmental impact of their proposals from the outset. Once the application had been submitted officers would assess proposals against policies and residents could have their say on the scheme. If planning permission was granted appropriate conditions would be added to make sure developers fully implemented the environmental aspects of their schemes. Officers would then monitor progress to ensure that these were met.

The council was working with Imperial College to get funding for a scheme to test how effective various green measures were. This information could then be used to persuade developers of the benefits of such measures and also to shape planning policies.

Residents were also now more able to engage in the planning process, having been given speaking rights at planning meetings, being represented on design review panels which gave advice to developers, and being included in policy formation.

The Chair asked whether planning policy sufficiently addressed particulate matter pollution. Matt Butler explained that Policy CC10 – Air Quality was a new policy and that it had been drafted to ensure that developers assessed the impact of their developments on air quality and conversely the impact of air pollution on their developments. The policy required developers to implement mitigation measures to deal with either of these eventualities. Many of the other environmental policies, for example, those affecting transport and controlling industrial uses also addressed particulate matter pollution. Paul Baker, Lead Environmental Policy Officer, noted that combined heat and power systems could cause air pollution, although they were promoted by the London Plan. In respect of carbon reduction, the policies in the new local plan would force developers to assess the impact of such systems. Matt Butler added that where carbon reduction policy targets could not be met, ‘lieu-payments’ from developers to the council should be made to spend on CO2 reduction  measures in the borough.

Councillor Hamilton felt that parking permit free developments were difficult for some residents, saying that there were many residents who did not use their cars for driving in London but needed them for longer journeys. Matt Butler explained that car free developments were a long established idea and that they generally worked well. Where there were exceptional cases of need, s106 agreements could be drafted to allow a degree of flexibility in respect of switching the allocation of on-site parking. Councillor Hamilton referred to paragraph 6.266 and said that water was not an increasingly scarce resource, but agreed that it needed careful management. Paul Baker agreed and explained that whilst there was plenty of water, London’s projected drinking water supply needed to improve sufficiently to keep up with the rise in population; there was therefore less water available to be wasted.

Morag Carmichael, Chair of Hammersmith and Fulham Friends of the Earth, asked what the borough’s policies were on the removal of trees, as there were issues with the health of some in the Bloom development close to Wormholt Park. Matt Butler explained that the policy was for trees to be replaced at least one for one. He said that developers were generally happy to plant trees as they improved the setting of their developments. Councillor Harcourt noted that the policy also required the trees to be kept in a healthy condition.

The Chair thanked officers for preparing an interesting and useful report and residents for contributing to the discussion.