B&NES Placemaking Plan has been adopted after several years of development, approval by the Planning Inspectorate and B&NES Council.
The plan sets out where major housing and commercial development can take place in Bath over the next few years.
The major impact from a sustainability perspective is that subject to viability all new developments for homes and commercial buildings in Bath will have to exceed the minimum regulated energy carbon emissions standards as set out in 2013 Building Regulations by at least 10%. For homes the additional costs of meeting this new target can be as little as a single solar PV panel at a cost of £500. This is a major advance in making homes more sustainable in Bath, and it is the best B&NES could have expected, following the removal of the right of Local Authorities to set higher energy standards (e.g. Code for Sustainable Homes) following the government’s Deregulation Act in 2015.
Transition Bath would like to see even higher standards for new buildings but this will not be possible given the current government’s legislative framework without a change of government, or new house purchasers insist on higher standards- which they rarely do. Given land prices in Bath are currently running at about £6million/hectare there is significant margin and viability for much higher standard homes without a significant depression in land prices.