Sustainability Guide

Judging Sustainability

The key question to gauge progress can be phrased as:

Is this development moving the North East in the direction of sustainability?

So far, the Guide has highlighted 'Rules of Thumb' or actions that can be followed in order that your proposals do just that: make a greater contribution to sustainable development in the region. The 12-point Framework suggests measures and tests, which can help judge progress against each of the Rules of Thumb.

The Issue of Measurement

Sustainability is increasingly being measured at the national level. In late 1999, the Government produced 'Quality of Life Counts' - it contains over 150 measures, with 13 'headline indicators' giving a broad picture of the UK's sustainable development progress. It tells us, for example that:

• while the economy grew by 80% between 1970 and 1998, energy use only rose by 10%: so the 'energy intensity' of economic activity fell;
  
• 'greenhouse intensity' fell too, with CO² emissions falling by 20%;
  
• demand for mineral aggregates seems to have decoupled from economic growth - it fell markedly over the decade to 1997; but that energy and water consumption per household, waste produced per household, and energy per road-mile have all stayed flat: and since we have more households and make more trips every year, we are not stopping the overall growth in resource use that the global environment needs.
  

For the North East, specific regional indicators are being developed through a Regional Sustainability Framework developed by the local authorities, and ONE NorthEast has adopted the national targets in its Strategy.

Sustainability Assessment Methods for Individual Schemes

Although this is an evolving process, methods have already been developed which can help make judgements about individual schemes. So this section also sets out some of the existing methods that can be used to judge sustainability, or particular aspects of it.

Seven assessment methods are summarised in the Sources of Info section:

• BREEAM
• False Creek Environmental Performance Indicators
• A Sustainability Checklist for Developments
• CREEAM
• SPeAR Sustainable Project Appraisal Routine
• SEAM Schools Environment assessment
• Best Value Sustainability Checklist

One - BREEAM - is already quite widely used in the development industry nationally, and is a good starting point for indicators and measures, especially on the environmental aspects of a scheme. Three were originally designed for specific projects elsewhere, and so need using with that different context in mind. Notably, they do not include specific coverage of Minerals and Land Reclamation - both issues of special importance in the North East.

"I think the key element in all of this is to be able to show whether whatever is planned is measurably moving the Region towards sustainability. We can only show that we are moving forward if we can, and do, measure progress. We need to avoid as much as possible the vague statements which cannot be challenged or substantiated. A test would be to look back at what practices we did do, and what we are now proposing (and then what we have done as a result of this Guide). If the answer to the latter is nothing new - then we have failed!"

Chris Spray, Northumbria Water, January 2001.

Local and Regional Policies and Processes

As well as assessment methods, developers can use policy documents to 'test' for sustainability. Users of this Guide will be following public policy. At regional level, the North East has Regional Planning Guidance and a Regional Economic Strategy.

They point the North East in the direction of a society which combines economic dynamism, environmental responsibility and social inclusion: all crucial to sustainability in the broad sense that we are talking about in this Guide.

These documents - and the Development Plans published by the Counties, Districts and Unitary Councils - provide much of the guidance that developers need: on location, on standards, on design expectations. As they are revised, they increasingly stress the importance of the Sustainable Development approach.

At regional level at the moment a sustainable Regional Framework has been produced and identifies sustainable development objectives to achieve the vision for the region. It also identifies key regional indicators and targets to assist in monitoring progress.

Is it Sustainable? How will you know if your actions are supporting sustainability? Example A: Housing Layout Take for example the idea of planning development around a walkable street network, not a car-based layout. This is a 'Rule of Thumb' in Think About the Whole Place. It sounds simple. But developers and planners need to be able to assess whether they are following it. For this' Rule of Thumb' to be met, quite fine grain or grid routes within the site would be needed, with street blocks no more than 80-100m long (or 50-70 metres long in centres) - otherwise journeys on foot become too laborious and car trips are encouraged. So the frame work puts that indicator alongside the Rule of Thumb. Example B: Or suppose you are planning a commercial development, and thinking about car parking provision. this may be in a town where say 50% of the people drive to work - the rest walk, bus, train or bike. A scheme which provides enough parking for 100% of its workforce to drive to work will not be moving in the local area - or the region - towards sustainability: it is moving away from it.

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And Finally

Does it all have to be so complicated and demanding? Didn't development used to be easier? The answer is probably 'Yes', and 'Yes'.

The reason why is because our patterns of development, since the Second World War in particular, have not been sustainable. In the words of Lord Rogers' Urban Task Force:

"The future of our towns, cities and neighbourhoods is at a crossroads. We can see all too clearly down one particular route. It is characterised by environmental degradation, gridlock, increased privatisation of public space, social segregation, low standards of urban design and poor quality of life. We should not fool ourselves that in England, one of the world's most urban countries, we will not go down this route".

And, as the Government's Foresight Panel has concluded: to stabilise climate change, we need a 60% reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions - a step change world-wide.

Thoughtful new development, making prudent use of our natural and human resources, can make a real contribution to the changes that we need. That means taking the time and the care to plan the development considering all the issues the guide has touched on.

The partners in producing the Guide are committed to such an approach. They believe that many other players in the North East will want to adopt it as well.

Sources of Info

• Main Planning Documents
• Sustainability North East (SUSTAINE)
• Rethinking Construction
• The Natural Step (TNS)
• SIGMA