Council Planning Policy Puts MK in Line for Green Award

10.48.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 18th Oct 2007

A national honour is being awarded to Milton Keynes Council for being one of the first local authorities in the UK to demand developers build carbon-neutral homes and buildings.

The Council has introduced a new planning requirement that all new buildings in the city be carbon neutral, reducing emissions believed to be responsible for global warming. Now this environmental "first" is being recognised as Milton Keynes Council has made it through to the finals of the Green Apple Environment Awards to be held in November at the House of Commons.

The overall winners of the Green Apple Award will go on to represent the UK at the European Business Environment Awards.

Yet this ground-breaking green policy is under threat, because the Government is looking at changing planning rules to prevent local authorities taking this approach.

Liberal Democrat councillor Isobel McCall, leader of Milton Keynes Council, said: "We are campaigning against any changes that will stop us continuing with this environmentally sustainable planning policy that has been recognised in these awards. Our carbon-neutral policy makes a big impact on carbon emissions locally as we are building up to 3,000 houses every year."

In its first year, the policy was applied to more than 50 planning applications, and 78 per cent of permitted schemes included renewable energy in the design.

Liberal Democrat councillor Douglas McCall, cabinet member responsible for the environment, said: "Milton Keynes is a major growth area and, as part of our sustainability assessment of the Local Plan, we concluded that we should try to make new developments more sustainable.

"The main policy goal is for zero carbon growth in Milton Keynes by achieving carbon-neutrality on new development sites."

All developers of larger buildings in the city (unless the development is 100 per cent carbon-neutral) must make a contribution to a carbon-offset fund, which will help pay for work to reduce the carbon footprint of older buildings.