A one day workshop to explore the successful use of BREEAM and the CSH requirements within local planning policy.

Sustainable buildings form a central plank of government's vision of ‘sustainable development', and in accordance of this, Planning Policy Statement 1 requires planning authorities to engage constructively and imaginatively to encourage the delivery of sustainable buildings.

The approach has been successfully spearheaded by a number of Local Planning Authorities including Brighton and Hove City Council and Ashford Borough Council. In these areas development is now encouraged to meet levels of sustainability stretching beyond the legal baseline.

At a time when the vast majority of Local Planning Authorities are still in the process of writing their Core Strategies, it is vital that policy requirements for BREEAM/CSH are properly written, positioned and pitched if they are to be approved by the planning inspectorate and ultimately, implemented. LPAs wishing to adopt their own policies for sustainable buildings will find the workshops and presentations at Sustainability through Planning 2010 improve their understanding of

• in general, the relationship between BREEAM, the CSH and the planning system
• writing adoptable local planning policy requirements for BREEAM/CSH;
• writing BREEAM/CSH conditions;
• using BREEAM/CSH as a negotiating tool in pre-application discussions;
• as well as implications for local developers

Speakers will share their experiences as well as provide a valuable insight into how BREEAM and the CSH work in practise: they include BRE Experts, developer representatives and local authority planners.

Programme :

Topics covered:

• Overview of BREEAM Buildings, BREEAM Communities and the Code for Sustainable Homes
• How to write and evidence base policy for going beyond buildings regulations
• How to write and discharge conditions for sustainable buildings
• Lessons learnt from appeal decisions
• Understanding the financial burden associated with meeting BREEAM and Code
• The supply-side perspective
• Tackling existing stock

Presentations from the Home Builders Federation, Beacon Planning Authorities and BRE experts