Agenda item

Definition of Net Zero Carbon

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment providing definitions of zero carbon that are in use in planning, demonstrating how these are applied in practice and highlighting the weight given to the draft London Plan targets since publication of the draft London Plan Panel Report in October 2019.

 

Officers highlighted that the draft London Plan required new developments to be net zero-Carbon, commencing Spring 2020, and would otherwise require developers to contribute funds though carbon-offsetting. 

 

A Member stated that the definitions within the report were clear but questioned how far back these went and whether they also referred, for example, to the deconstruction or construction of a building and how this would be possible to achieve with the use of fossil fuels and the like. Officers agreed with the difficulties highlighted by Members but stated that the zero-carbon assessment set by the London Plan related to the building’s use only. 

 

In response to further questions, Officers highlighted that the City Corporation’s draft Local Plan included a circular economy policy that strongly emphasised the benefits of re-use/re-cycling of existing buildings over the demolition of one to be replaced by another on the same site.

 

RESOLVED – That Members note the content of the report.

Supporting documents: