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ID sylw: 107668

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Cala Homes (Cotswolds)

Asiant : Lichfields (London)

Cala supports the overall direction of the Draft Policy Direction 22 to reduce carbon footprint and the general measures to achieve this such as air tightness and ventilation, renewables, compact building form, cool and green roofs etc. Cala commits to providing high quality, sustainable and energy-efficient developments.
However, due the financial and practical constraints to achieve net zero carbon on some sites, there may be cases where meeting zero carbon in new development is unviable. This needs to be balanced against the policy aspirations. It is noted that the last sentence of the draft policy direction states, “It should be noted that where full compliance is not feasible or viable the applicant needs to submit robust evidence along with the energy statement setting out clearly the reasons for non-compliance.” It is not fully clear however whether this relates to Part A (residential buildings) and Part B (non-residential buildings) or just to Part B. This needs to be clarified.
The NPPF, para 72, is clear that planning policies should have regard to the economic viability of sites and that policies which seek contributions from development should not undermine the deliverability of the Local Plan (Para 35). To this extent, Cala considers that as part of any viability assessment that is undertaken by South Warwickshire to support the SWLP, this must include the impact of Net Zero Carbon requirements on deliverability of sites and the ability to meet the policies set within the Local Plan.