Policy LL13: ENERGY EFFICIENCY
- All development, except householder applications, should be ‘zero carbon ready’ by design to minimise the amount of energy needed to heat and cool buildings through landform, layout, building orientation, massing and landscaping. Consideration should be given to resource efficiency at the outset and whether existing buildings can be re-used as part of the scheme to capture their embodied carbon.
- Proposals that voluntarily exceed the minimum standards required by national policy or building regulations, including through zero-carbon-ready development or recognised high-performance standards, such as PassivHaus or BREEAM “Excellent” or “Outstanding” will be supported.
- For major development, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA), alongside their Sustainability Statement, using a recognised methodology, to demonstrate actions taken to reduce embodied carbon resulting have been maximised across the construction, operational and end-of-life stages of development, having regard to viability and proportionality.
The Town Council passed a Climate Emergency in 2021. Leighton Buzzard has two wind turbines and the Town was a leader in battery technology in 2014 with the Super Battery on South Street. The new Marigold House Care Home is one of the very few care homes in the UK to be Passive Haus. The town was a bee friendly town in 2013 and a case study for the National Pollinator Strategy in 2014, with Keep the Buzz in Leighton Buzzard awarded a “Bees Needs Award “from DEFRA in 2017. Dash Direct Bus service was an award-winning bus service in 2011 that cut traffic on southern Leighton Buzzard by 17% above the TRICS assessment.
The town was also part of a special project of Cycle Town 2009-2011. Leighton Linslade has always been a market town for food and has markets supplying local vegetables and farm produce. Local food shops such as the Refill Shop provide good quality very affordable local food without waste. Several shops in the town also provide refill facilities.
This policy looks to build on those successes in securing a low carbon future for the Town through the built environment, supporting the delivery of Central Bedfordshire Local Plan Policy CC1 by requiring applicants to demonstrate, through a Sustainability Statement, how climate change mitigation and adaptation have been embedded into the design of development in Leighton Linslade.
The Sustainability Statement is intended to be proportionate and should reflect the scale, type and location of development, extending the Local Plan requirement for the submission of this statement for major development.
Leighton Linslade includes a diverse range of development contexts, including historic townscape, waterside locations and higher-density town centre sites. Sustainability Statements should therefore demonstrate how proposals respond appropriately to local circumstances, including heritage sensitivity, flood risk, overheating and opportunities for green and blue infrastructure. It is noted that the submission of a Sustainability Statement is currently mandatory in the Local Plan for major development.
The submission of a Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) for major development is encouraged to support a comprehensive understanding of carbon impacts over the lifetime of development. This will assist decision-makers in giving positive weight to proposals that demonstrate long-term carbon reduction and resource efficiency, where this does not undermine scheme viability. This is also encouraged in the draft Design and Placemaking PPG, currently out for consultation.
This policy does not introduce additional mandatory technical standards beyond those required by national policy or the development plan, but seeks to ensure that climate considerations are transparent, locally responsive and embedded in planning decisions.
In respect of Clause A of the policy, ‘Zero Carbon Ready’ by design means making spatial decisions on layout and orientation of buildings at the outset to maximise the passive design benefits (‘free heat’) of a site and avoids leaving this to technical choices and assessment at the Building Regulation stage, by which time the opportunity may have been lost. Applicants are directed to the Net-Zero Carbon Toolkit created by Cotswold District Council and two partner councils, WODC and Forest of Dean District Council. The toolkit is available as a resource for private and public sector organisations to use and adopt (link required).
Every new build or redevelopment project in the Neighbourhood Plan area provides an opportunity to make a difference and a contribution towards meeting our climate change targets for 2050. This new information requirement need not be an unreasonable expectation of even the smallest schemes for new buildings.
In respect of existing housing stock, with the National Energy Efficiency Centre based in Leighton Buzzard, there is an opportunity for the community and local groups such as South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth and Buzz Community Energy, to come together to promote retrofitting for both insulation and renewable energy options as well as to realise the ambition to create a Local Area Energy Plan for the Town to seek how Leighton Buzzard could reduce its demand for electricity, the cost of local electricity and its carbon emissions.
It is noted that whilst many retrofitting measures do not require planning permission, for listed buildings or those within the conservation area consent is required. As such, applicants are recommended to review the Advice Note prepared by Historic England which is aimed “to provide clarity and support consistent decision-making for proposals to reduce carbon emissions and improve the energy efficiency of historic buildings whilst conserving their significance and ensuring they remain viable places to live in the future”.