What is the Sustainability Checklist for Developments?
- What is the Brighton & Hove Sustainability Checklist for Developments?
- When is the Brighton & Hove Checklist used?
- How does the Brighton & Hove Checklist benefit the Developer/Planning Applicant?
- How does the Brighton & Hove Checklist benefit the Local Planning Authority?
- How does the Brighton & Hove Checklist benefit the wider community?
What is the Brighton & Hove Sustainability Checklist for Developments?
The Checklist is a tool which looks at the sustainability of developments and is used by decision makers within the planning approval process, whether they are in the developer team, the planning authority, the client team or are potential purchasers.
It looks at a range of sustainability issues and, by means of a series of questions, indicates the level of performance that the development has reached for each issue. A high-level report sheet shows the score that the development achieves out of the maximum possible for each of eight sections. It also indicates issues which are deemed not applicable or where the minimum standard has not been achieved.
When it is submitted as part of a planning application the information is used by the Local Planning Authority to monitor the sustainability of developments across the city and report on the performance of policy and targets.
In that sense, this checklist provides a simple way to help deliver sustainable development policy through the planning system and is consistent with local, regional & national policy. It is weighted to meet local and regional policy priorities.
When is the Brighton & Hove Checklist used?
The Checklist is designed primarily for use within the development design and planning application process to help new developments and conversions to contribute to more sustainable communities.
The Checklist:
- gives the developer/planning applicant an idea of the scope of issues that need to be addressed in the formulation and design of the planning proposal;
- provides information about minimum standards for each issue; and
- contains supporting information on each of the issues that need to be addressed.
Once completed, the Checklist provides an assessment tool for the local planning authority on two fronts. First, it provides information to assist in the decision-making process, presenting results at a high “overview” level whilst allowing scrutiny of individual issues where required. Second, the information stored can help the Local Planning Authority monitor profile and assess performance of developments delivered through the planning system.
How does the Brighton & Hove Checklist benefit the Developer/Planning Applicant?
- It gives advice to the development team as to the sustainability of different site types;
- It guides the design team in illustrating the issues that they need to address, so that these can be considered at the right stage of the design process rather than having to be incorporated (and the design expensively reworked) at a later stage;
- It sets out minimum, good and best practice standards for each of the issues covered, so that the developer/planning applicant can see where they are performing well and which areas need further work;
- It provides recognition where the developer/planning applicant has gone above the minimum level of performance;
- It provides a common framework for pre-application discussions;
- It enables the developer/planning applicant to assess the sustainability of their planning application before it is submitted to the local planning authority;
- It provides a level playing field for developers/planning applicants, as issues and standards are clearly laid out;
- It does not constrain the design team – it sets out standards to be achieved rather than defining the methods to achieve them;
- It builds on well-known industry standards such as BREEAM, Ecohomes, Urban Design Compendium, National Standards Framework.
How does the Brighton & Hove Checklist benefit the Local Planning Authority?
- It provides clear and consistent advice about the range of issues to be considered when assessing the sustainability of a planning application;
- It can be used to analyse and monitor local policies and targets, such as CO2 reduction and amount of energy generated via low and zero carbon technologies;
- It provides information about what constitutes good and best practice for each issue, rather than just listing issues to be considered;
- It shows how issues fit together – e.g. links energy efficiency and low and zero carbon technologies;
- It encourages developers/planning applicants to consider issues at the design stage, rather than having to address everything at the approval stage;
- It provides assistance in turning around planning decisions within 8 weeks – all information about the sustainability of the application is in one place, in an easy to read format;
- It helps Development Control officers and the planning committees can view high level reports, but can drill down for more information if they so wish;
- It is filled in by the developer/planning applicant, but can easily be audited by the authority where required – in contentious planning applications a third party audit can be required;
- It enables multi-stakeholder dialogue around common ground;
- It provides data for the Annual Monitoring Report;
- It helps the Local Planning Authority deliver local, regional and national sustainable development policy in line with their obligations under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and PPS1.
How does the Brighton & Hove Checklist benefit the wider community?
The Brighton & Hove Checklist helps developers, planning applicants and planners to produce more sustainable developments, enabling people to look beyond the buildings and see the effects on a range of issues including the community, the environment, the economy and climate change.
The Checklist can be used by a range of stakeholders – including the community – when the planning proposal is being prepared, as it provides a common framework to discuss the range of issues contributing to a sustainable community and enables a debate around the appropriate standards to be achieved.
By producing a simple and easy to read overview report, it highlights issues where the development performs well and enables a review of issues where performance is less good.
It also enables the Local Planning Authority and the wider community to analyse the sustainability of particular developments and/or a range of developments delivered via the planning system and can assist the wider community to assess the efforts of the Local Planning Authority in delivering sustainable development via the planning system.