‘Good’ and ‘Best’ practice standards
- Why does the Brighton & Hove Checklist have good and best practice standards, why not just give a minimum?
- Where do the ‘good’ and ‘best’ practice standards come from?
- Why don’t some questions have ‘best practice’ standards?
- If you get mostly ‘best practice’ answers, is the development completely sustainable?
Why does the Brighton & Hove Checklist have good and best practice standards, why not just give a minimum?
Minimum standards should be the ‘catch all’ for new developments, but they are exactly that – the least that should aimed for. Many developers/planning applicants are already doing better than minimum standards on some aspects, however considering sustainability issues is new territory for some developers/planning applicants, particularly those building smaller developments.
The Checklist is following the lead of other tools such as the Code for Sustainable Homes BREEAM assessments in that it shows what better practice looks like, as well as setting out the minimum standards that developments are expected to meet. By providing scores for good and best practice the Checklist also enables developers/planning applicants to be acknowledged where they have gone beyond the minimum – useful for the development control process, but also in demonstrating the quality of the development to potential purchasers and land owners.
As in the Code for Sustainable Homes, the Checklist also uses Good and Best practice scores to show the likely future direction of policy to enable developers/planning applicants to up-skill and plan for the future.
Where do the ‘good’ and ‘best’ practice standards come from?
Where quantitative standards are given they are, as far as possible, drawn from experience on other delivered projects and other tools and guidance, opinions of experts in the particular fields and opinions of local planners and regional stakeholders.
Why don’t some questions have ‘best practice’ standards?
Where the question is process-based, or where performance on the issue covered by the question is particularly dependent on the site context, it is not always possible to give a ‘Best practice’ standard.
If you get mostly ‘best practice’ answers, is the development completely sustainable?
Since the Checklist is designed to be a tool for use within the Planning System, there are elements of sustainable developments it is unable to address. These include Building Control issues, the construction process itself and the operation of the development once it is complete. References to tools which may assist in these areas are provided.
The Checklist is designed to apply to the majority of planning applications, but it does not set an upper limit for performance. Exemplar and demonstration sustainable developments are likely to exceed the standards set in the Checklist.