Sustainable

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WELSH PLANNER LIVE

Sustainable placemaking and ecosystem restoration are twin foundations to tackling climate change

By Simon Wicks

Julie James said planners, developers, policymakers and communities must think about places “holistically”

Welsh Planner Live: How planning and planners can take climate action 21-25 September 2020

What happened? Eleven online events over fi ve days, more than 25 participants and topics studying planning’s response to climate change from angles including:

n ecosystem restoration; n green and zero-carbon development; n behaviour change; n national planning policy and guidance; n local development planning; n sustainable placemaking; and n renewable energy.

Among the speakers were planners, politicians, environmentalists, QCs and a psychologist.

Th e headlines

n New principles for placemaking in Wales would drive the creation of betterdesigned, more “integrated” developments, according to the Welsh Government minister for housing and local government.

Launching a new Placemaking Wales Charter at the Welsh Planner Live virtual conference, Julie James MS said its six principles would guide planners, developers, policymakers and communities to think about places “holistically”, rather than “in isolation”.

Read the full story on Th e Planner website: bit.ly/planner1120-wales

n Planning policy needs to shift away from a “linear” approach to measuring net gain and towards a broader concept of “ecosystem restoration” if the profession is to help to arrest biodiversity loss and support its role in adapting to climate change. Taking a whole system approach to restoring nature would allow nature itself to drive natural recovery while also providing a foundation for slowing and mitigating climate change and its eff ects.

Read the full story on Th e Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-biodiversity

n Development that puts people fi rst and which is shaped by the need to reduce emissions is the key to

“WE CANNOT REVERT TO BUILDING POORQUALITY DEVELOPMENT ON SITES THAT ARE NOT SUSTAINABLE” JULIE JAMES MS, WELSH GOVERNMENT MINISTER FOR HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

addressing climate change in the built environment.

Low-carbon principles need to be at the heart of placemaking and embedded in local development plans, former RTPI president and board of trustees climate action champion Ian Tant told the conference in a session entitled ‘Where is policy now? A practical approach to local development plans’.

Read the full story on Th e Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-climate

n Th e RTPI is aiming to be the world’s fi rst ‘net-zero’ membership body by 2025. Th e move, revealed by past president Ian Tant at the Welsh Planner Live, follows the RTPI’s Plan Th e World We Need report and campaign launched in July.

Read the full story on Th e Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-netzero

“In areas where homes are likely to be aff ected by fl ood risk, those with wherewithal will be able to move; those less well-off are facing real risk to property and to life” - Ian Tant, RTPI immediate past president and climate change champion

“We are in the infancy of policy to deal with the loss of ecosystem functions and the recovery of ecosystems” - Dr Paul Jepson, Ecosulis

“We need to start thinking like an ecosystem – thinking about the whole, not just a part” - Caryn LeRoux, senior biodiversity policy adviser to the Welsh Government Young planner comment:

Emmeline Reynish, planner at Arup

“A central message that stood out to me throughout the week was the potential opportunities presented by the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of adapting our environments to better respond to the climate emergency. In the webinar ‘Built Environment and Infl uencing Behaviour’, environmental psychologist Lorraine Whitmarsh told us that life changes create opportunities for habits to be broken, and many of us are experiencing signifi cant life changes

Roisin Willmott OBE FRTPI, director of RTPI Cymru:

main carbon contributors. Decisions that can reduce the need for carbon-reliant travel should be at the forefront. built in at the right point – for example, new housing has to have the public transport/active travel factored in at the start. be a big gain and would also help with fuel poverty and employment in the Covid era. A message for new development is that ‘fabric fi rst’ is the best way to proceed. as a direct result of the pandemic.

“As young planners, we must recognise that the pandemic is likely to result in long-term impacts that will change the way in which we plan for green recovery long into the future. We need to be mindful of the wide-ranging spatial implications of life post-pandemic as well as potential unintended consequences. What was certainly clear during Wales Planner Live is that planners, now perhaps more than ever, must champion the creation of sustainable, smart and resilient places

Th e takeaways from RTPI Cymru

n Surface transport is one of the n Behaviour change needs to be n Retrofi t of housing energy would for present and future generations."

n We have national policy in Wales in place through Planning Policy Wales and National Development Framework. It’s the implementation of policy that we need to attend to. n Covid has made us rethink how we operate and our priorities in the built environment. Th is supports climate action as well.

Simon Power, chair of RTPI Cymru

n Localism and place matter. 15-minute town centres are more important than ever. n Planning for climate adaptation is as important as planning for mitigation/net-zero emissions. n Covid-19 may actually be far more signifi cant than we realise.