DM1 - Sustainable and Construction
Object
Proposed Submission Core Strategy and Policies Development Plan Document Review
Representation ID: 5329
Received: 05/03/2015
Respondent: Crest Strategic Projects
Legally compliant? Not specified
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? Not specified
Emerging Policy DM1 part a. seeks that all new build residential developments achieve a minimum of Level 4 for the Code for Sustainable Homes standard or equivalent. Whilst we in part support the principle of this emerging policy and welcome the removal of the onerous requirement to achieve Code Level 5 and 6 [in adopted policy DM1], we query whether seeking Code Level 4 on all development sites, we query the need for the Council to include such a policy given the Code requirements are dictated by Building Regulations.
See attached.
Object
Proposed Submission Core Strategy and Policies Development Plan Document Review
Representation ID: 5371
Received: 05/03/2015
Respondent: Mersea Homes Limited
Legally compliant? Not specified
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? Not specified
The provisions of DM1 are not consistent with national policy on sustainable design and construction and are contrary to the provisions of paragraphs 95 and 173 of the NPPF. The Code for Sustainable Homes is not mandatory, and is to be replaced by provisions under the Building Regulations. These critical national policy imperatives must be reflected in DM1 if it is to be a sound policy. The Council's whole-plan viability evidence (which we consider optimistic) demonstrates that the obligations set by DM1 have a detrimental effect on viability to the effect that it could determine whether sites would be deliverable.
See attached.
Object
Proposed Submission Core Strategy and Policies Development Plan Document Review
Representation ID: 5422
Received: 05/03/2015
Respondent: Mr Arwel Owen
Legally compliant? Not specified
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? Not specified
The provisions of Policy DM1 are not consistent with national policy on sustainable design and construction and are contrary to the provisions of paragraphs 95 and 173 of the NPPF, which requires sustainability polices to be set in a way which is consistent with the Government's own approach. The Code for Sustainable Homes is not mandatory, and is to be replaced by provisions under the Building Regulations. The Council's whole-plan viability evidence demonstrates that the obligations set by Policy DM1 have a clearly detrimental effect on viability and could determine the deliverability of sites.
See attached.
Object
Proposed Submission Core Strategy and Policies Development Plan Document Review
Representation ID: 5549
Received: 02/03/2015
Respondent: Home Builders Federation Ltd (HBF)
Legally compliant? Yes
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? Yes
Policy DM1: Sustainable design and construction
Elements of the policy are unsound because the requirements conflict with national policy.
Policy DM1: Sustainable design and construction
Elements of the policy are unsound because the requirements conflict with national policy.
We recommend that the requirement in the policy part A for residential development to comply with Code for Sustainable Homes level 4 is deleted because this is contrary to the Government's intention to remove the Code as a national standard but to incorporate elements in the revised and expanded Building Regulations. This is set out the Government's Housing Standards Review.
The last part of the policy states that the standards stipulated are the minimum. This is vague and will result in uncertainty for the applicant and the decision-maker. This would be contrary to the NPPF which requires that the local authority's policy on local standards is set out in the local plan (paragraph 174). This is necessary to provide clarity for the applicant to know what he or she needs to do to comply with local policy and so that the decision-maker knows how to assess the application (see paragraph 154 of the NPPF). Having clear policies is important in order to provide a practical framework to enable planning applications to be made with a high degree of predictability and efficiency (NPPF, paragraph 17).
We recommend that this part of the policy is deleted because it lacks clarity. We also recommend it is deleted because the outcome of the Government's Housing Standards Review will only require developers to comply with the Building Regulations. Local authorities will not be able to specify compliance with any other standard.
Object
Proposed Submission Core Strategy and Policies Development Plan Document Review
Representation ID: 5600
Received: 26/02/2015
Respondent: WM Morrison Supermarkets Plc Ltd
Legally compliant? Not specified
Sound? Not specified
Duty to co-operate? Not specified
The requirements of the policy are too stringent. Viability should be taken into account or else the policy could prevent development from coming forward.
See attachment