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The Birmingham Plan
What is the Birmingham Plan?
Birmingham City Council must, by law, prepare and keep up-to-date a
"Unitary Development Plan" (UDP). Birmingham’s first UDP was
published in 1993, after extensive public participation and a major public
enquiry. It is known as the Birmingham Plan. This is a land use plan covering
the whole city. It contains policies and proposals that guide development and
the use of land up to the year 2001.
This Plan is now under review and draft Alterations to the Plan have now been
published to set policies and strategies for development up to the year 2011.
What does The Birmingham Plan contain?
A book which includes:
- Topic
chapters (such as Housing and Shopping), which set out the objectives and
direction of planning policies across the city.
- Area
statements, which set out policies and proposals for different parts of
the city, including the City Centre.
- A
list of more detailed planning policies, which the Planning Committee must
also take into account when they make decisions on planning applications.
These are known as "Supplementary Planning Guidance".
- A
map which provides a guide to the Plan's proposals and policies.
Strategy
Birmingham
is home to almost a million people of diverse cultures, ethnic origins, skills
and incomes. The Birmingham Plan aims to:
- Create
a City which provides better facilities and opportunities for all
residents;
- Provide
an attractive environment which will improve the quality of life for the
City's residents, as well as stimulating investment
City-wide policies
As discussed earlier the Birmingham Plan contains planning
policies on a wide range of issues, the one that is relevant to Air Quality is:
The Environment Section
The draft UDP now includes a section on air
quality and states:
“3.77. The City Council is committed to
improving air quality within Birmingham and will require development which
minimises or reduces air pollution. This will be addressed in various ways: -
- An
increase in tree cover throughout the City
- Modes
of transport which reduce the impact of travel on air pollution
- The
use of alternative clean fuels
3.78. When assess planning applications, the
implications of new development for air quality will be taken into account.
3.79. The City Council is aiming to minimise
energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions within Birmingham and
encourages the use of renewable energy resources. The City Council recognises
that one of the best ways to reduce energy use and therefore carbon emissions
is by designing buildings to be energy efficient. The City Council will
therefore will require development which minimises or reduces energy
consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, thereby help to reduce the Cities impacts
on the global warning, resource depletion and pollution.
3.79A. The City Council is committed towards
carbon dioxide reduction and renewable energy targets, in line with the
government’s current target for renewable energy generation, i.e. that 10% of
UK electricity requirements should be met from renewable energy sources by
2010. The City Councils current target is to acquire 15% of its own energy use
from renewable energy sources and to reduce CO2 emissions by 30%
from 1990 levels by 2010.
3.79B. The City Council
is aware of the potential for renewable energy sources within Birmingham, in
particular, solar energy (photovoltaic and solar heat). The City Council will
also support combined heat and power installations where appropriate, as they
are a sustainable form of the energy by using the heating and electricity
generation potential of energy usage. As far as possible, the layout of new
developments should take account of the potential for the future of Combined
Heat and Power schemes. The City Council will give favourable considerations to
proposals for the application of combined heat and power in developments with
significant energy demand, e.g. major mixed use developments, subject to full
consideration of any adverse effects on local amenity that might arise as a
result of the development
3.79D. In addition, the achievement of
minimising energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions will be addressed in
a number of ways, including: -
- Locating
the most intensive forms of development within the City Centre or other
centres and along public transport corridors.
- Mixed
use developments
- Modes
of transport which reduce the impact of travel on energy resources
- The
layout and design which reduces the need for travel “
(Source - The Birmingham Plan, Birmingham
Unitary Development Plan, Alterations and Environmental Appraisal Deposit 2001
and Second Deposit Changes 2002, Birmingham City Council 2001/2002)
Conclusion
The revision of the Birmingham Plan to include
Air Quality ensures that all Local Government Officers, Applicants and Agents
consider Air Quality issues with all planning applications and developments.
Once the final Birmingham Plan has been issued, this will provide a legal
backup for any local Air Quality improvement measures attached to planning
approval conditions. |