BREEAM launches local planning authority guidance

The BREEAM Family of schemes supports and adds value to the activities of a range of stakeholders worldwide, including:

• Central government delivering on policy;
• Market players actively committed to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and good Environment Social Governance (ESG), and
• The financial investment sector managing risks.

Within the UK, the schemes also support local government through development specifications and the planning system.

Over the past few years, proactive engagement activities with this latter group – local planning authorities as well as their representative groups and bodies – has sought to demystify the applicability of certification and empower practitioners to the drive better sustainability outcomes in what is an ever-evolving policy landscape.

Following the release of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, 2018); the central reference point for plan making in England, and joint pieces with both the UKGBC and TCPA/RTPI (policy playbook and climate resilience practitioners guide), BREEAM acted to update its own planning guidance working with its assessor networks and planning representatives to define the brief and refresh the best practice knowledge.

This has resulted in a dedicated BREEAM Planning resource suite specifically for local government and planning authorities which currently contains six documents:

1. Planning Practitioner Guidance – principles, policy writing, ratings, and industry examples.
2. The Value Case – providing a compilation of the key value messages.
3. Communities and CEEQUAL Uncovered – context, scope, minimum standards, stakeholder value and uptake.
4. UK New Construction Uncovered.
5. Home Quality Mark Uncovered.
6. Top ten questions – addressing FAQs from local authorities, planners and other stakeholders.

These are intended to be ‘living resources’ which will be added to and evolved over time. The current intention is to include resource packs for the Refurbishment and Fit-Out and In-Use BREEAM schemes and build upon the application approval/determination insight.

BREEAM will be monitoring feedback, hits/downloads etc. and has partnered with the TCPA, and is working with the RTPI, to deliver a series of engagement workshops for planning practitioners. These will disseminate best practice, particularly in respect to positive climate change and public health action and the use of certification, and help shape the brief for the second update phase.

It is also envisaged that further guidance will be brought forward for those acting within the scheme's wider stakeholder network – watch this space. Readers are encouraged to contact BREEAM with their thoughts and suggestions at [email protected].

This article was written by BREEAM in May 2019 and can be accessed on its website here.

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--BRE Group