The Welsh Assembly Government has clarified its national planning policy for sustainable buildings in advance of the final technical advice in early 2010.
The Welsh Assembly Government’s chief planner, Rosemary Thomas, has written to all planning authorities and interested parties setting out how the advice should be treated.
The relevant Ministerial Interim Planning Policy Statement came into effect on 1 September 2009. It requires all planning applications for developments of more than five dwellings, or for non-residential floor space greater than 1,000 square metres or comprising a site of more than one hectare to meet strict new sustainability standards.
The letter confirmed that the new planning policy relates only to applications for built development and not to applications for change of use, extensions and refurbishment of existing buildings.
It also confirmed that a sustainability pre-assessment is not a separate requirement to accompany applications for new developments, although it does make clear that the sustainability credentials of new proposals must be considered as part of the design and access statement submitted with an application.
The document also made clear that sites need not be registered with accredited sustainability assessors prior to submission of the application, but that site registration ensures that a development will be assessed against the standard in force at the time of registration.
Arfon Hughes, partner at the Cardiff office of planning consultancy DPP, said: “There has been widespread criticism that the initial guidance was unclear, leading to confusion amongst planning professionals and local authorities and delaying the progression of planning applications. This clarification letter addresses a number of the key concerns raised.”
The letter explained that: “Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) should recognise that in meeting the relevant sustainable building standard there will be environmentally sustainable design solutions proposed that will feature in the external appearance of a building. This may include a safe, secure and weatherproof cycle storage unit, a storage unit for recyclable waste, or a biomass plant.
“LPAs will need to take into account the sustainability benefits of these design solutions in considering other planning considerations which such features may raise. In turn, developers should seek to Identify and manage (e.g. by appropriate siting and location) all the planning implications of such features in designing their proposals.”
