As part of ambitions to make the planning process greener than ever East Hampshire District Council is making clear what environmental standards it expects from house-builders and how those standards can be achieved.
The council plans to consult with residents and developers on a paper, called a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), over the Christmas and New Year period.
If approved by the council’s Planning Policy Committee on 20 December, the SPD will clarify the current planning policies to set out the standards required and give developers guidance on how they can be met.
EHDC aims to make its next Local Plan the greenest ever and is lobbying government to back its calls for zero-carbon homes to be standard in the district.
This greener Local Plan will be ready in 2023. In the meantime, the council will use the SPD to encourage developers to meet the highest standards allowed by the current plan.
Cllr Richard Millard, EHDC Leader, said: “We are pushing to make our next Local Plan the greenest it can be, with zero-carbon homes becoming standard practice across the district.
“Until that plan can be adopted we must make the best possible use of the planning policies we currently use. Our Supplementary Document will make it clear what our current policies demand and will provide advice to help home-builders reach these high environmental standards.
“Local Plan policies cannot be changed during its lifetime, so we will have to wait for our zero-carbon homes, but we can provide the extra detail and information developers need now to make new homes as green as they can be.”
The SPD will contain information on energy efficiency, using locally resourced materials, site design, house orientation, tree planting and a raft of ways new developments can be environmentally efficient.
It will cover the area of the district outside the South Downs National Park, for which EHDC is the planning authority.
If approved, the consultation will run from 22 December to 5pm 2 February 2022 and can be found on the website: www.easthants.gov.uk/planning-policy/consultation
Revised Statement of Community Involvement
The council is also consulting on its Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) which describes how the public, businesses and interested groups in the district (outside the SDNP) can get involved in the planning process.
The SCI has been recently revised in the light of COVID19 and changes to working practices and residents’ views are being sought.
If you wish to take part in this consultation, which also runs from 22 December to 5pm 2 February 2022. Details can be found on our website: www.easthants.gov.uk/planning-policy/consultation