Owl says the real story lying behind these headlines is a comparison between Teignbridge’s and EDDC ‘s progress in formulating and taking action on climate change.

Teignbridge had been Conservative from 2011 until the LibDem took control in 2019. Their progress in formulating and implementing a climate change policy makes Ben Ingham’s progress look tame. Ben Ingham’s fragile coalition with Conservatives has had to look over its shoulder as Conservatives such as councillor Mike Allen tried to switch the climate change budget to fund more planning officers. As a result EDDC has a climate change budget and strategy which says: we will draw up 5 year Action Plans to address these key priorities, and progress towards them will be measured annually. 

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Daniel Clark  www.devonlive.com

New policies will require new development in Teignbridge to meet much higher standards of climate change mitigation and adaptation and have requirements for biodiversity net gain.

Councillors on Tuesday agreed to go out to consultation on the Draft Local Plan (Part 1) 2020-2040, which refreshes the existing climate change policies contained in the adopted Local Plan 2013-2033.

It includes a requirement that all new developments which propose the construction of new homes or non-residential floorspace are carbon neutral, while other draft policies also support the development of low carbon and renewable energy schemes, promote sustainable transport and require the provision of Electric Vehicle Charging points within new developments.

The Local Plan Part 2: Creating Quality Places which outline where development will take place, is expected to come forward in 2021.

Cllr Gary Taylor, portfolio holder for planning, said: “This has tougher policies to fight climate change and stronger policies for nature and it tasks developers to bring forward genuinely affordable homes. This will encourage a buoyant local economy and higher standards of design.”

Leader of the council, Cllr Gordon Hook, added: “I have every confidence in the document. It is a first class piece of work that I hope is favourably received. It is a fine piece of work and the foundation for a much better and sustainable program of development going forward.”

Michelle Luscombe, Principal Policy Planner, in her report the meeting, added that the policy wordings proposed are considered to be a significant update to the existing Local Plan policies, with improved climate change and design policies.

She added that the council’s new Climate Change Officer, William Elliott, would be feeding in additional technical information into the Plan.

William is initially focusing his efforts on assisting Teignbridge District Council (TDC) to identify the most eco-friendly gas and electricity contract renewal and to quantify and reduce its own in-house carbon emissions.

Based within Teignbridge’s Environmental Health team, William will work with managers and staff across the council and will also engage with climate taskforce groups, local authorities, the University of Exeter and Devon County Council. Part of his remit will be assessing the carbon impact of planning applications”.

Cllr Jackie Hook, TDC’s Climate Change Champion, said: “Doing our bit to reduce our impact on the environment is a matter for all of us as individuals, businesses and organisations.

“This appointment sets down a marker that Teignbridge means business when it comes to tackling Climate Change. Much of the early work will be internal, but William will also be looking at areas where carbon reduction targets can be raised and also working with colleagues at County Hall to support the Devon Climate Emergency programme.”

The consultation period will run for an eight-week period from Monday, March 23, 2020 until Monday, May 18, 2020, with consultation events will include, Drop-in community events, Planning Cafés, Online videos, Static displays and document viewing, Posters/leaflets.

But the meeting heard that given the current issues around the coronavirus, it may end up not being possible to do as many face-to-face consultations as planned but that the council would make sure the information does get out into the public domain via other methods.

Cllr Gordon Hook added: “I am very keen that the public should participate. Coronavirus is presenting a potential problem but we must overcome that. I really urge the public to engage with the document and very much hope that we will adopt the presentation as necessary if the coronavirus outbreak continues to unfold.”

The meeting also heard that as a result of council officers in the environmental health having to spend more of their time dealing with contingency plans for any coronavirus outbreak, it was having an impact on their workload and as a result some reports, including a review of policies and procedures around fly-tipping would be delayed.

Cllr Hook added: “It is a huge and growing problem and I wish to assure people there is no reason to panic. I am confident that the officers are doing all in their power to continue the smooth operation of the council and that will be our ongoing intent.”

Phil Shears, the council’s managing director added that the council taking advice from Public Health England and Devon County Council and it was up to individual councillors on the actions they take, but they should be guided by PHE.