BASE HEADER

No

ID sylw: 108237

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Persimmon Homes (South Midlands)

Asiant : Pegasus Group

This policy direction seeks to protect and enhance carbon sinks that are sequestering carbon above a certain threshold. The Councils are also considering requiring a net gain in carbon sequestration as part of developments. It is acknowledged that the Assessment of Carbon Sequestration and Habitat Baseline and Opportunities (March 2024) does suggest that the South Warwickshire authorities should consider setting a threshold, and that to maximise climate change resilience, environmental features that make contributions towards carbon sequestration should be protected.

However, this is likely to have a negative impact by potentially placing a constraint on development, particularly if the threshold is too low, as stated in the report (page 48), and the Councils should have regard to this. Moreover, it must be emphasised that the conclusions in the Assessment of Carbon Sequestration and Habitat Baseline and Opportunities (March 2024) do not recommend a policy requiring a net gain in carbon sequestration. At present, there is insufficient evidence to justify this policy, as suggested by the Councils in the policy direction itself, which does not propose a threshold due to the lack of green infrastructure evidence which exists to inform this.