Councillor Josh Williams asked the following question of the Chair of the Planning Applications Committee:

Climate Emergency Declaration

Is a Climate Emergency Declaration a material consideration in Planning decisions?

REPLY by the Chair of the Planning Applications Committee (Councillor Lovelock):

There are effectively two considerations in determining planning applications:

1.    Whether something is a material consideration;

2.    If it is, what weight it is to be given in the overall planning balance?

Material considerations

In determining planning applications, priority is to be given to the development plan, in that applications must be determined in accordance with it, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Climate change (and mitigating for its effects) can be a material consideration. For example, a recent case in Medway*, in determining an application for a house extension, the council did not consider it material that the extension would ‘overshadow’ a neighbour’s solar panels. The Court held that this was incorrect; the solar panels made a contribution to the reduction in reliance on non-renewable energy and the effect on them (even minimal) was therefore a material planning consideration which should have been taken into account.

However, the fact that the Council has made a Climate Emergency Declaration is not a material consideration, in that the declaration itself does not have any effect in legal or policy terms, being essentially a statement of belief and intent and a call for government action.

It is likely that issues relating to climate change (and mitigation for it) will already be covered by relevant policies in the development plan, and so will already be material, as part of the plan. For example:

·         Policy CC2, Sustainable Design and Construction, supports development “where the design of buildings and site layouts use energy, water, minerals, materials and other natural resources appropriately, efficiently and with care and take account of the effects of climate change”

·         Policy CC3, Adaptation to Climate Change, requires development to “demonstrate how they have been designed to incorporate measures to adapt to climate change”

It is relevant to note that this Council carried out a review of the Local Plan in March 2023, which identified changes to a number of current policies to better reflect the climate emergency. The Council is currently consulting on a Local Plan Partial Update as a step to achieve this.

It is also relevant that The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 includes provisions which will strengthen the current primacy of the development plan. Planning applications will need to be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations strongly indicate otherwise. These provisions are not yet active but are expected to start later this year.

Weight

Once it has been determined that a factor is a material consideration, whether part of the development plan or otherwise, a planning judgment is then required. The decision-makers must determine the weight to be given to all material considerations, to reach an overall conclusion as to the planning balance.

Although it is not a material consideration in its own right, the Climate Emergency Declaration can affect the weight which decision makers decide to give relevant policies. For example, the Declaration would justify placing more weight on policies which relate to climate change to address the climate emergency.

Summary

·         Climate change itself is a material consideration, but the Council’s Climate Emergency Declaration is not a material consideration in planning decisions.

·         The Council already has policies which are intended to address climate change and mitigation for it. Those policies are currently under review with one aim being to better reflect the Declaration.

·         However, the Declaration is relevant in determining the weight which is to be given to material considerations in making planning decisions, in that it can be a justification for giving more weight to climate change issues.

*McLennan v Medway Council [2019] EWHC 1738 (Admin)