DCE Response Group (DCERG) Minutes- 17 February 2025

Attendees

1. Minutes of the previous meeting and matters arising

The minutes were accepted to be a true record. No further questions asked. 

2. Recent changes to the National Planning Policy Framework – Devon County Council Planning Team

Sarah Ratnage from the Devon County Council Planning Team presented on the recent changes the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Some key points of her presentation included: 

Climate Change 

• Net Zero by 2050: The NPPF now includes a more specific reference to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, stronger wording than previous text on a low carbon future. 

• Renewable Energy: There’s additional wording on the value of renewable and low carbon energy generation and giving significant weight to its benefits. 

• Broader Climate Change Impacts: The framework now considers a wider range of climate change impacts, including water supply, biodiversity, landscapes, overheating, and drought. 

• Inclusion in Decision Making: the latest wording suggests that climate change considerations should be more explicitly included in decision-making processes, not just in policy and plan making. Though it is still unclear what this might look like in practice, one possible approach is a requirement for climate change statements in planning applications, similar to those in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA). 

Renewable Energy 

• Support for community-led renewable and low carbon energy projects remains, with some changes in wording. The government is considered changes to the thresholds for solar and onshore wind projects which can be determined by local planning authorities, without going through the nationally significant infrastructure project process. The government proposes a threshold of 100 Megawatts (MW) for both solar and onshore wind projects, where previously it was at 50 MW for solar. This is unlikely to come into effect till the end of 2025. 

Building Regulations 

• Future standards will move away from fossil fuels in new buildings and regulations will be reviewed to address climate change risks. 

Flood Risk 

• Green Infrastructure: The NPPF has strengthened the focus on incorporating green infrastructure and sustainable drainage systems to manage climate change impacts. 

• Sequential Test for Flood Risk: The sequential test for flood risk remains, this guides developments to areas at lower risk of flooding, but now allows for greater flexibility for large developments. 

• Sustainable Drainage: Sustainable drainage requirements are broadened to cover more developments. 

• Multifunctional Benefits: Added emphasis is placed on the multifunctional benefits of sustainable drainage systems. 

Transport 

• Vision-Led Approach: Shift from a traditional “predict and provide” approach to a “vision-led” approach. Previously, transport impact assessments of developments were based on existing travel patterns of similar developments. The shift towards the vision led approach requires sustainable transport opportunities to be prioritised within the vision for new development. Vision options must be reasonable and deliverable based on the development location. This change aligns with current council planning practices. Aims to reduce car journeys and strengthen focus on sustainable transport. 

The meeting discussed Sarah’s presentation, noting that the government’s emphasis on the climate emergency and the stronger wording in the NPPF would be helpful for the partnership.  

Sarah further explained that the changes to the flood risk sequential test sought to strike a balance between unlocking housing in areas previously potentially excluded due to flood risk and ensuring robust site-specific assessments, for instance with the part of the site at flood risk used as green space within the wider development design. 

Victoria Hatfield asked if the sustainable transport focus in the NPPF applies to both housing and commercial developments, and if it includes retrospective changes. Sarah Ratnage clarified that it applies to any development requiring planning permission, not just housing.  

Jason Ball asked about planning for renewables and Sarah explained the NPPF supports low carbon energy generation but still requires the right hooks in relevant local planning documents. It was noted that Local Area Energy Plans are one such document and Devon, Plymouth and Torbay are in the early stages of developing them. 

3. Progress Reports

3.1 General Progress Report

The group considered the Progress Report appended to these minutes. 

Emily highlighted the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (CCA) has officially been established and the first meeting is going to be on the 19th of March and that she had met with Sean Anstee who is heading up the CCA to introduce the Devon Climate Emergency partnership. Meg added that there is a lot of work going on to finalise the governance arrangements of the CCA, as it has its own governance arrangements distinct from the constituent local authorities, such as establishing its Scrutiny Committee etc. Initial funding of the CCA has been focused on issues such as green skills and housing. 

3.2 Built Environment Theme Progress Report

Emily Reed provided updates on various actions.  

• B1, the Energy Saving Devon Group is developing a retrofit strategy, facing delays but aiming to firm up proposals by the end of March.  

• B8, evaluating planning conditions for energy efficiency upgrades is hindered by capacity issues within the Devon Planning Officers Group. Meg Booth suggested new housing standards might assist. Joanna Chamberlain proposed using interns to support case study compilation.  

• ACTION: Emily to note the potential impact of updates to housing standards on this action. 

• B11, concerns were raised about the viability of a shared evidence base for net zero carbon homes due to local variations and update challenges.  

• B12 involves encouraging developers to reduce embodied carbon, but enforcement is difficult without changes to building regulations.  

• B16 highlights significant monetary and carbon savings from switching to LED lighting, though further efforts are needed. Meg Booth noted £25 million savings over five years from LED lighting. It was noted that the focus includes all external lighting, not just street lighting. 

Claire Gibson raised concerns about how actions are scored, specifically B-15, which focuses on anchor institutions delivering net zero new builds. She noted that many housing projects around Exeter are not net zero, questioning the green RAG rating for the action. Others agreed. Emily proposed changing the action’s status to amber to reflect the issues. The group concurred on updating the status to amber. The discussion concluded with Meg inviting any further delivery problems or successes to be shared. 

4. Net Zero Delivery Challenges and Successes 

The group discussed net zero delivery challenges and successes.  

Claire Gibson mentioned that Devon received a sizable award for expanding the Cranbrook District Heat network. Matthew Blythe noted the significant work involved in keeping the network operational.

Appendix 1 – Project Progress Report

Period:  January to February 2025

1. Partnership Update

1.1 General Communications

X was removed due to changes to the culture of the channel. This meant, without X, the overall number of followers increased, in January this was by 0.38%. In relation to growth, all channels were positive with the highest being 1.46% on LinkedIn and the lowest 0.00% on YouTube. This included passing 2000 followers on Instagram. There is now greater capacity due to the addition of the new Climate Emergency Support Officer who started on the 13^th of January and the team hope for greater growth going forward.  

1.2 Partners’ Notable Activity

Activity is recorded centrally on the Taking Action pages of the Devon Climate Emergency website.  

• Babcock International has introduced Electric Assisted Vehicles (EAVs) at their Plymouth dockyard, aiming for net-zero emissions. 

• This year, Plymouth will welcome 50 zero-emission electric double-decker buses as part of a major £31.87 million investment in the city’s public transport. 

• South West Water has invested £260,000 to mitigate storm overflow spills at the Stibb Cross and Langtree wastewater treatment works in North Devon. 

• The Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) has unveiled its draft ambitions for the Exmoor Partnership Plan. 

2. Oversight of the Devon Carbon Plan

The Progress Reports detailing known activity against each action are on the website. A summary of the number of actions categorised by each RAG status is provided below, split by theme.  

Note that each theme of the carbon plan is reviewed every 6 months, which means the RAG status will not change significantly within the monthly periods of this progress report.  

Blue = Completed 
Green = Generally progressing well 
Amber = Progressing but geography or scope is limited
Red = Not started or activity significantly limited 
Grey = Not yet assessed 

Built Environment

Common Issues:

• Finance required to expand geography 
• Finance required for more people resource, particularly spatial planning 
• Uncertainty regarding the implications of a written ministerial statement on Local Plans. 

Economy and Resources

Common Issues:

• Clearer guidance from government on aspects of waste management needed 
• Finance required for more people resource 

Energy Supply

Common Issues:

• Availability of capital finance

Food, Land and Sea

Common Issues:

• Complexity of agendas, e.g. Land Use Framework and Local Nature Recovery Strategy 
• Finance required to expand geography and scope 

Transport

Common Issues:

• Public concern about EVs and reallocating highway space for sustainable modes 
• Grid capacity 
• Availability of capital finance 

Cross-Cutting Themes

Common Issues:

• Finance required for more people resource, particularly spatial planning 
• Finance required to expand geography  

The first phase of monitoring indicators are online. The University of Exeter has helped to expand the indicator set, which will be added to the web page early this year. 

3. Oversight of the Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Climate Adaptation Strategy

The Climate Impacts Group is continuing its programme to review all the risks and near-term actions each year. No change to the RAG ratings this month. 

4. Feedback from the Climate Task Force 

The Devon Climate Task Force held its latest quarterly meeting in December and made the following recommendations to the Response Group: 

• Use the Local Resilience Forum emergency response trigger to ensure sufficiently senior leaders, as well as personnel who will implement actions, attend the Carbon Trust workshop. 

• Ensure the workshop focuses on practical, high-impact actions, and addressing barriers to success. 

• Ensure the Carbon Trust workshop includes a focus on broadening outreach to businesses and community groups. 

• Secure or provide funding to research business resilience and understand what businesses are doing around climate resilience. 

• Develop a project to capture and share peer-to-peer learning about climate adaptation through resilience stories from businesses. 

• Engage with Defra regarding options for environmental management and regulatory issues affecting farmers’ adaptation efforts e.g. water abstraction licencing. 

5. Devolution Update

The Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (CCA) has officially been established, allowing local decision-makers to take control over key issues such as housing, jobs, skills, transport, and the economy. This follows the signing of the necessary legislation by the Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Jim McMahon, under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. The inaugural meeting of the CCA members, which include representatives from Devon County Council, Torbay Council, Devon’s District/City/Borough Councils, the Police and Crime Commissioner, and the business community, will take place on 19 March 2025. 

In addition, the Government’s Devolution White Paper has introduced a programme for local government reorganisation in two-tier areas, inviting councils to propose new unitary councils. This reorganisation is expected to have significant implications for local authorities in Devon, creating uncertainty and potentially reducing the capacity of partner organisations. The risk register has been updated to reflect these risks as the transition to unitary status progresses.