Transcript Leadership Team, Staff Briefing

West Midlands Sustainability Checklist
George Marsh
Chair
Sustainability West Midlands
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Contents
• SWM
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Background to Checklist
How does it work ?
How is it Used ?
Uptake
Review and updating of the Checklist
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Who we are
SWM is the sustainability adviser for the leaders of the
West Midlands.
– Government recognised ‘regional sustainability champion body’
– Our Board is private sector led and cross-sector representative
– We are a not-for-profit company, that works with our members in
the business, public and voluntary sectors.
Our role is to act as a catalyst for change through :
– advice to leaders
– developing practical solutions with our members
– sharing success and good practice (Newsletters, Meetings)
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Our Vision
By 2020 businesses and communities are
thriving in a West Midlands that is
environmentally sustainable and socially
just.
By 2012 West Midlands leaders are clear
on what this looks like, have set
milestones and their organisations are
making strong progress.
‘a low carbon vision’ begins to set out what is possible now in
terms of energy, transport, construction, demographic change to
reach 2020…...
Advice to leaders
– Regional Economic Strategy – ‘Connecting to success’ – the
UK first Low Carbon Regional Economic Strategy.
SWM role to review annual progress across all low carbon
aspects
– Strategic Lead on coordinating others’ actions in the
Economic Strategy around uptake of good practice in the
home and workplace of energy efficiency, new technologies,
and promoting good practice
– Evidence to recent review of Spatial Strategy – need clear
carbon reduction targets linked to extra action required at
regional level to meet 2020 targets ‘the carbon gap’
Developing practical solutions with our
members
– Sustainability Housing Action Programme – work with
partners to establish scale of challenge for retrofit and to
promote pilot solutions
– Business Futures – work with a range of large businesses
and support networks to share good practice in resource
efficiency and innovation to inform future business support
– New Green Deal – work with members and existing
networks to identify good practice for linking employment
schemes with green economy opportunities
West Midlands Sustainability Checklist
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Checklist background
National Sustainability Checklist for Developments:
• A National Sustainability Checklist was commissioned by ODPM,
supported by WWF and devised by BRE to promote high quality
development that would support sustainable communities.
• The national Checklist was published in 2002
• It was intended to be a practical tool to assist in planning decisions.
Why a regional checklist?
• Developers asking for more commonality.
• Planning policy is created at regional level and there are
regional differences.
• Regional planning policy now forms part of Local
Development Frameworks.
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How the Checklist was prepared
• Derived from draft RSS and Regional Housing Strategy
for the region, national planning policy, regional
sustainable development policy
• Incorporates other guidance from statutory bodies.
• Development managed by a steering group comprising a
number of local authorities, the Regional Assembly
GOWM and AWM
• Considerable assistance from a range of other
organisations.
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Relationship with other policy
European and National Policy
WM Regional
Spatial
Strategy
WM Regional
Sustainability
Checklist for
Developments
References other
tools- Ecohomes,
BREEAM, CSH
Urban Design
Compendium,
Design and
Access
Statements …
Local
Development
Framework
Tailored Local
Sustainability
Checklist for
Developments
(optional SPD)
Integrated
Regional
Framework
SA/SEA of
LDF
The Checklist is a website based tool
• An online tool to aid decision makers in the development
of sustainable communities:
www.checklistwestmidlands.co.uk
• All users have individual, secure accounts in which they
can store multiple developments..
• The website is designed to be intuitive and user friendly,
holding all the information required to complete a
checklist and explaining the questions.
• The Frequently Asked Questions hold a considerable
amount of useful information
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Coverage of Checklist
• Issues are arranged in 8
categories:
– Climate change and
energy
– Community
– Placemaking
– Transport and Movement
– Ecology
– Resources
– Business
– Buildings
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Coverage
Climate Change &
Energy
Flood Risk PPS 25
Flash Flooding
Ventilation & cooling
Heat Island effect
Water recycling
Energy strategy
% Renewables
Sustainable heating
Ease of Retrofit
Infrastructure expansion
Energy infrastructure
Smart meters
Community
Community involvement
Sustainable lifestyle info
Community facilities
Placemaking
Site characteristics
% open space
Re-use of buildings
Design statement
Landscaping scheme
Retain area character
Physical/visual links
Public realm
Ease of navigation
‘Active frontage’
Defensible spaces
Local character
Access to green space
Outdoor recreation
Adaptable buildings
Inclusive community
Diverse communities
Secure by Design
Street lighting
Security lighting
Ecology
Ecological survey
Improve ecolog value
Wildllife corridors
Tree/shrub mix
Resources
Heritage preservation
Low impact materials
Locally reclaimed
Local sourcing
Water efficiency
strategy
Water pollution
Water efficiency
Waste recycling
Noise Impact
Transport & Movement
Public Transport :
Corridor
Frequency
Waiting facilities
Virtual Communications
Car Parking standards
Flexible parking space
Reduction of HGVs
Bicycle network
Reduction of car travel
through local facilities
Minimise landfill
Business
Complement
existing businesses
Promote bus growth
Attract inward
investment
Connectivity &
communication
Create jobs
Contribute to
Regeneration
Vehicle speeds
Pedestrian priorities
Reduce dependency on
cars (car clubs)
Buildings
BREEAM or
Code for SH Rating
How the Checklist works
• Each category comprises a number of questions. The
exact question set depends on the size of the
development. (70 questions across all categories).
• Each question has 3 possible responses to chose from,
correlating to best, good and minimum practice.
• The developer provides a written justification (evidence)
for the response they give – an audit trail.
• Because of the generic nature of the question sets the
developer also has the opportunity to select ‘not
applicable’
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Using the Checklist
Each question has a
choice of three
benchmarks.
– Minimum,
– Good Practice,
– Best Practice
(not applicable)
Example - Q5 of 13 in Climate Change
What % of domestic water use in operation will be provided
for by rain water collection and/or grey water recycling
systems ?
Best :
>50%
Good :
25 – 50%
Minimum : LA planning standard
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Example - Q3 of 20 in Place Making
What % of the existing buildings on site will be reused/refurbished ?
Best :
100 %
Good :
> 50%
Minimum : LA planning standard
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Using the Checklist
The developer
provides a
written
justification
(evidence) for
the benchmark
they have
selected – an
audit trail.
Using the Checklist
Questions
within each
category
are
weighted
individually
- shown
graphically
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Using the Checklist
An overall
percentage
score is
awarded for
each of the
eight
categories.
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Using the Checklist
User can monitor
progress and
benchmarks awarded
Users can see:
• when a question has
not met the minimum
standard
•is not applicable
•Has not been
answered for further
interrogation.
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How would the Checklist be used on a site proposal:
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Design team use before design commences to identify the issues
that may need to be addressed.
Pre-application discussions if required to cover:
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5.
Questions deemed not applicable to this site
Any specific targets
S106 trades
Use during stakeholder consultation exercises as common basis
for discussion.
Iterative use during design process to monitor performance and
make adjustments to design if required prior to submission.
Once satisfied with performance, submit with planning application.
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What the Checklist does for Planners
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Combines information about the sustainability of the proposal in one place.
Provides graphic overview of sustainability performance of proposal –
detail can be checked if required.
Common format helps build familiarity and therefore speed in dealing with
applications.
Helps the planner by indicating what constitutes “good” and “best”
practice on each issue.
Helps planning authorities to deliver their responsibilities under the
Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act, Planning Policy Statement 1 etc.
Can be modified to fit local circumstance if required (Sustainability
Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessment).
Provides data for the Annual Monitoring Report.
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What the Checklist doesn’t do:
It does not:
• Make decisions. It’s a tool for decision makers, not a
decision making tool.
• Replace Environmental Impact Assessments or other
statutory requirements. However data from other
Assessments can be used to respond to Checklist
questions if there is overlap.
• Circumvent planning policy i.e. development plan
allocations.
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Checklist uptake
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West Midlands Checklist and website tool were launched in July 2007.
Training offered in 2008
Wolverhampton City Council used the Checklist as the basis of their
Sustainable Communities SPD – launched summer 2008
Website statistics show increasing use but registration of projects varies
widely across the region
A number of local authorities are referring developers to the Checklist, have
used the Checklist as a validation criterion, will be using the Checklist to
inform sustainable development SPDs
Checklist included in draft RSS policy as a tool to support consistent,
transparent decision making and better outcomes from development– result
of EiP expected autumn 2009
AWM putting together programme of awareness raising and training around
the Checklist and its role in supporting delivery of planning policy objectives
in response to queries by local authorities
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Checklist review and updating
1. Regional invitation to review the Checklist attended by local authorities and other
regional bodies with an interest in planning – Feb 2009
2. Consultation on a range of technical issues including inclusion, Building for Life
continues
3. Imminent changes to:
– Website functionality
– Wording to make application to non-residential schemes more obvious
– Inclusion of Building for Life in placemaking section
4. Longer term:
– inclusion of ‘missing’ issues such as air quality and tranquillity
– Fundamental review of the logical sequence of questions – topic based as
currently or timeline according to development design
5. Pilot revised Checklist with the development sector
6. Aim to keep consistency with other regional checklists and the newly launched
BREEAM Communities
7. Develop a regional awareness raising and training programme
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Get in touch
Executive Director
[email protected] tel: 0121 202 3265
sustainabilitywestmidlands.org.uk
Sustainability West Midlands
Level 4 Millennium Point
Curzon Street
Birmingham B4 7XG
Thank You
Questions ?
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