COUNCILLOR N HARRISON TO MOVE:

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – ‘THE MERTON RULE’


Council notes that:

1. There is a national target for 10% of UK electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2010; a target which Friends of the Earth and other environmental organisations feel is likely to be missed, as estimates are that the current figure is well below 5%.

2. The December 2007 national Supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1) makes clear that there should be a specific duty on councils to ensure that renewable energy targets are integrated into new developments and that they have significant latitude on how this is implemented.

3. The Supplement also promotes the use of Local Development Orders (LDOs) to establish site-specific targets for renewable energy provision and that these can be used outside of the overarching Development Plan Documents.

4. Over 20 Local Planning Authorities have already implemented policy in this area with another 150 intending to do so; the London Borough of Merton was the first and this type of policy has therefore come to be known as ‘the Merton Rule’.

5. The draft Regional Spatial Strategy for South West England incorporates a policy (RE5) stipulating that larger-scale developments will be expected to include "as a minimum, sufficient on-site renewable energy to reduce CO2 emissions from energy use by users of the buildings constructed by 10%”.
6. On 5th October 2007, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government expressly forbid the inclusion of Merton Rule style policies in Supplementary Planning Documents, effectively hamstringing Council’s ability to make policy in this area prior to the adoption of the Bristol Development Framework.

7. This now leaves the city with planning policies on sustainable development, which are already ten years out of date and no longer fit-for-purpose, and with apparently no means of bringing them up to the standards now needed within the next two years.

Council believes that Bristol should be proudly and ambitiously at the forefront of initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, in line with its aim for “Bristol to be a green capital in Europe, tackling the causes of climate change and creating a clean and attractive built and natural environment” (Bristol Community Strategy) and its target for a 60% reduction in CO2 by 2050 compared with 2000 levels (Bristol Climate Protection and Sustainable Energy Strategy).



Council therefore resolves to:

1. Mandate the Leader of Council to contact the Secretary of State to request specific guidance on how a ‘Merton Rule’ policy might be implemented in the city in advance of adoption of the Bristol Development Framework.

2. Request that the Leader of Council should investigate the scope for the immediate implementation in Bristol of Policy RE5 of the draft Regional Spatial Strategy.

3. Include a specific ‘Merton Rule’ policy in the on-going consultation on the Bristol Development Framework, which covers all scales of development and which includes a scheme by which developers are required to make a financial contribution to city-wide renewable energy projects if they are able to demonstrate that on-site options can not provide the required carbon reductions.

4. Convene a cross-party and mixed member and officer Working Group on sustainable development with the brief to develop radical policies for the city to increase its renewable and sustainable energy provision and thereby meet its existing carbon reduction policy.