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Carbon emission targets are not something which can be put on hold until after the recession, argues Sean Rendall. There is no doubt that the turmoils in the financial sector have already started to seriously affect development and planning. In the quarter ending June 2008, local planning authorities recorded a 13% fall in the number of planning applications compared with the same period last year, with applications for new residential and commercial developments being hardest hit. Evidence suggests the early part of 2009 will see the downward trend steepen. Figures for the quarter ending September 2008 show new housing started on site was down 33% on the previous quarter, and practically halved from the previous year. Urban regeneration schemes are also being put on the backburner across the country, with developers blaming the credit crunch for proposals stalling. Does the downturn mean planning authorities will relax their demanding sustainability and environmental targets in order to ensure their overall planning objectives and targets are not jeopardised by a reluctance to build? At an international level, it is being argued that the credit crunch justifies delaying action on sustainability. Germany and Italy are among EU member states arguing for less-ambitious targets for reduced carbon emissions, and the UK Government has been accused of seeking to water down efforts to cut domestic emissions. Unsurprisingly, hard-pressed developers echo this sentiment, claiming the growing number of items on planners' ‘shopping lists' have become unaffordable and unrealistic. Local authorities' planners continue to face multiple challenges and difficult decisions – maintaining delivery rates of new and affordable housing, securing investment in the regeneration of urban centres, provision of new transport infrastructure, and countless others. These all compete for increasingly-scarce funding. Alongside this, councils are pushing for higher environmental standards of new developments and are seeking investment in new measures to address climate change and carbon-reduction targets. The result is a risk of developers either just refusing to entertain higher sustainability targets, or subsequently reneging on hard-won commitments made through planning conditions and agreements. A further predicament for planning authorities is that as the number of planning applications continues to drop, so does their income from application fees. Therefore planning budgets may become more reliant on annual Housing and Planning Delivery Grant, which may encourage new development, but does little to incentivise building to higher environmental standards. Faced with a choice, the temptation may be to relax the need for better environmental performance. In reality, the choice is not quite so simple. The planning system is plan-led, so authorities cannot simply abandon their policies in extremis, and must be able to justify any relaxation of their policy. And few planning authorities are likely to admit to softening targets at a time when central government is expecting planning to play its part in achieving ambitious carbon emission cuts. Nonetheless, some planning authorities may be inclined to take a more cautious approach to adopting the higher standards for low and zero carbon energy supply advocated in last year's supplement to PPS1. The reality will only be revealed in time, once Energy Performance Certificate data is analysed. Local authorities must harden their resolve if the communities they represent are to achieve significant cuts in carbon emission. This is not a project which can be put to one side until the economic upturn. Key to this is developing capacity within local planning services. By following the orthodoxy adopted by insightful businesses at times of recession, and focusing on improving the skills of their workforces, local authorities can engage in more enlightened discussions with developers on the energy demands of their proposals. This will help improve their awareness of the range of options available to reduce the carbon footprint of developments, and give them a better understanding of the strategies they must develop to secure new community energy infrastructure. Another tactic for planners is to encourage developers to adopt an open-book approach to their proposals. At a time when the Government is proposing to amend fiscal policy, identification of funding gaps may help secure greater public investment in infrastructure, and unlock developments hit by the downturn, without sacrificing long-term environmental sustainability. Sean Rendall is head of policy and strategy at the Energy Centre for Sustainable Communities

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WHITEHALL

Carbon cuts for the future

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