The report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) is attached.

Manchester’s commitment to climate change had been well documented, from adopting a science-based carbon budget of 15 million tonnes of CO2 between 2018 and 2100 and endorsing the draft Manchester Zero Carbon Framework as the city’s overarching approach to meet science-based targets on tackling climate change, to declaring a Climate Emergency in July 2019, which recognised the need for the Council, and the city as a whole, to do more to reduce its carbon emissions and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.

The planning system was one of the ways which could help mitigate climate change and assist in influencing and supporting those involved in place-making and shaping the use of land and buildings. With regard to climate change there was a statutory duty on local planning authorities to include policies in their local plans that are designed to tackle climate change and its impacts. The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (as of 2019) now included a stronger emphasis on future development, previously lacking in the older version, stating that plans must “pro-actively shape places in a way that contributes to radical reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, minimise vulnerability and improve resilience”. It further notes that local planning authorities need to take account of the Climate Change Act 2008.

The report explained that the Framework also contained policies on a wide range of other topics such as significantly boosting the supply of housing, the use of land and the importance of development being viable to willing developers. The balance between these factors was left to local planning authorities to strike through its Local Plan preparation. Manchester’s current local plan, the Core Strategy was adopted in 2012 and was about to undergo a refresh and the Councils declaration on climate change would be at the heart of this review which would seek to align policy and processes to tackle this key issue.

It was also reported that whilst the NPPF may contain policies on climate change there was a distinct lack of practical advice and support to local authorities on how to secure a radical reduction in carbon emissions. For a local planning authority, the test was therefore how to address its vision for future development in the local plan process in the context of the NPPF. It was also recognised that there were other potential challenges at a national level which were likely to impact on the Council’s climate change ambitions such as the deregulation of planning through the expansion of permitted development rights.

Prior to the adoption of the Council’s development plan - the Core Strategy in 2012, the City’s quality agenda was supported by the Guide to Development Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). Endorsed in 2007, this provided the step change to a more comprehensive set of environmental policies in the Core Strategy. And with regard to climate change, the SPD set out a requirement, which still existed today, for planning proposals to be supported by an Environmental Standards Statement. The Core Strategy now embedded the principles  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38