East Hampshire District Council published for consultation in December 2021 an important and welcome supplementary planning guidance document, to which Energy Alton and Alton Climate Action Network (ACAN) have jointly responded.

The consultation document can be found here – https://www.easthants.gov.uk/draft-climate-change-and-sustainable-construction-spd

Energy Alton and ACAN’s response can be downloaded here –

Energy Aton and ACAN welcome the effort EHDC has put into this document and asks the Council to treat the following comments as constructive criticism. Our comments tend to be centred on section 4 Implementation, as this is the crucial section as far as the built environment is concerned.

We have seen and endorse the submission from Petersfield Climate Action Network (PeCAN) our partner environmental organisation in East Hampshire. In particular we strongly endorse the recommendations regarding incentives.

We find the section 2.15 ‘What is Climate Change’ breathtakingly dry. It omits any statement of the need for urgent and community wide action. The consequences of failure to deal with the impact of the climate emergency will be catastrophic for all communities including East Hampshire and this should be the clear context for this SPD. Readers need to understand that if the measures in the SPD are fully implemented, we will be on the path to avoiding the worst of the climate scenarios. The document must also make plain the determination of Councillors, the Planning Department and key community groups to rigorously use the planning system make the changes that are absolutely essential. The SPD fails to lead on this critical point.

For Energy Alton’s detailed comments on the draft SPD, download the full document.