At a meeting of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Council leaders facilitated by D2N2, Rushcliffe Leader Cllr Simon Robinson has issued a call for councils to work together to lower carbon levels from housing developments across the two counties.
In a meeting earlier this month he highlighted the need to minimise carbon emissions during the construction of new homes in line with the aspirations of the Midlands Energy Hub and the D2N2 Energy Strategy.
Cllr Robinson called for more measures to reduce emissions from vehicles during new developments by working locally, retrofitting existing housing stock and further influencing the supply chain to be more carbon neutral with the recycling and sourcing of raw materials involved in construction.
He asked Council leaders to support a proposal to produce supplementary planning documents to assist the councils to work to higher environmental standards than currently provided in the National Planning Policy Framework.
He said: “Rushcliffe is among the councils in the LEP committed to ensuring future development is as low carbon as possible and I was delighted with the support shown at the meeting that ties directly with D2N2 strategy for a more sustainable future for our communities.
“It follows a recent developer forum held by Nottinghamshire councils where improvements to national standards were discussed and the need to lobby central government for the framework to be reviewed was reiterated.
“Minimising carbon in the construction phase is key to councils overseeing further energy efficient new homes across our two counties.”
Chair of D2N2 Elizabeth Fagan CBE said: “D2N2 is committed to a strategy of a more sustainable future for all our communities. It is important that as we invest in future projects that we work collaboratively with all of our partners on carbon reduction.
“We’re excited to see Councillor Robinson and Rushcliffe Borough Council embracing our Energy Strategy and helping our region move towards a carbon-free tomorrow.”