Clare D.

Part of a Local Authority or the Public Sector? Check out our video on the Collective for Climate Action highlighting what we do, what we will be doing, and how you can get involved! https://lnkd.in/eSZzZj3T

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Cynnal Cymru on behalf of Academi Wales are running a series of sessions for the new Net Zero leadership programme - Academi Wales open to public and third sector staff in Wales to join free of charge. The programme delivered includes Carbon Literacy and Nature Wise courses for emerging leaders. Our aim is to ensure that leaders not only understand the challenges of the net zero transition but are equipped to lead change within their organisations and communities. Both sessions will need to be completed as part of the programme. Details here: https://lnkd.in/eyWfvFbi

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Today the OBR has published its 2024 Fiscal risks and sustainability report, where we investigate the costs of climate change damage to the UK's public finances (Chapter 2). We show that by 2074-75 climate change damage could increase UK debt by 23 to 33 per cent of GDP under a below 2°C and below 3°C scenario, respectively. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eNsgT8PD

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Great opportunities

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As the inaugural meeting of our Planning Working Group gets under way, we're launching our insight paper, Local Planning for Renewables: Five key policy challenges. Drawing on analysis of UK government planning data and consultations with both developers and planning authorities, it identifies the critical challenges and proposes policy solutions to enhance the planning system for clean energy projects. These are: ❌ A lack of priority for renewables within the National Planning Policy Framework and local plans. 👉 We’re calling for the National Planning Policy Framework to be updated to prioritise net zero and renewable energy. 🤦‍♀️ Under resourcing and high staff turnover at local authorities. 👉 We’re calling for measures that improve the roles of local authority planners to address resourcing challenges. 🔎 A lack of clarity on when planning permission should be refused due to the character of the area. 👉 We’re calling for the NPPF to be updated to provide greater clarity on ensuring a balance between landscape protection and the need to address climate change. 🛑 The total stalling of onshore wind deployment. 👉 We’re calling for the restrictions on onshore wind to be removed urgently so that it's treated in the same way as other infrastructure. 🤷‍♂️ Insufficient engagement with local communities on clean energy projects. 👉 We’re calling for the publication of best-practice guidance on community engagement and benefits for all onshore renewables and to take forward the findings of the 2015 Shared Ownership Taskforce. For more on this, follow or reach out to our planning and communities lead, Rebecca Windemer, PhD. #planningforrenewables #townplanning #environmentalplanning #NPPF #onshorewind

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The draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has arrived and has opened the door to a shift towards a vision-led approach. This aligns perfectly with the progressive strategies we’ve been striving to implement across our projects.   The updated NPPF suggests that a development should only be refused if the impacts on the transport network are 'severe' across all tested scenarios.   This approach provides the flexibility to investigate a variety of vision-led scenarios instead of assessing the worst-case scenario and potentially over providing often needless highway infrastructure.   I’m interested to see how a 'vision-led approach' is interpreted by Local Authorities now they have the policy backing to support real ambition.   Hopefully, this is another positive step in the direction of improving active travel opportunities for all! 

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Two interesting free #NSIP webinars for #LocalAuthorities coming up focussed on community wellbeing and highways, organised by Suffolk County Council's NSIP Centre of Excellence: 1) Community Wellbeing and NSIPs. Friday July 12th 2024 – 9.30-11.30am: This session will focus on the following topic areas: - How mental wellbeing fits into #EnvironmentalImpactAssessment (EIAs) and #HealthImpactAssessment (HIA) regimes of NSIPs. - The potential impacts of NSIPs on community mental wellbeing and how can they best be addressed. - How developers should design their engagement with community mental wellbeing in mind. - What local authorities should consider in their roles to protect community mental wellbeing.   2) #Highways Guidance for NSIPs. Tuesday July 16th 2024 – 11.00am-1.00pm:  This session will focus on the developer guidance for NSIP highways matters which has been drafted by Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex County Councils and lessons learnt from the Bramford to Twinstead Development Consent Order (DCO).   If you are interested in attending either or both sessions, please contact [email protected], indicating which session you wish to attend, or both. https://lnkd.in/e65DrSiY

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Yesterday the Welsh Government published its draft 2025-26 budget. https://lnkd.in/e8i8UvVr Proposals fall into four categories: 1) A healthier Wales 2) Jobs and green growth 3) Opportunity for every family (which includes more social homes for rent) and 4) Connecting communities (which includes public transport improvements and road repairs) Highlights include: *An additional £3.7m to help accelerate planning decisions and support a programme of digital transformation of planning services; *An additional £5m for NRW to help deliver infrastructure consents quickly and to provide the necessary input into land use and marine planning decisions; *An additional £5m resource funding to deliver renewable energy projects and local energy systems; *Continued investment in city and growth deals; *£57m for Help to Buy Wales; *An additional £81m capital funding for Social Housing Grant and Transitional Accommodation Capital Programmes to help social housing providers deliver homes at pace; *£70m resource and £51m capital funding to improve rail and bus services and repair roads. This reflects many of the RTPICymru asks in our consultation response. Following scrutiny by Yr Senedd, the final budget will be published on 25th February 2025. Read a bit more here: https://lnkd.in/eciWM9zJ

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Ambitious targets for a sustainable future - what are your thoughts?

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Flexibility services reward households for cutting energy use during peak times, helping manage the grid. But how can we ensure these services work for everyone, including prepayment meter users? A new report from Nesta and Utilita Energy explores how to make the energy transition more inclusive. Read it here ⬇️

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Highly recommend event. Could your competitors actually be your allies? Are you missing out on those bigger contracts because you don't have all the bases covered or would struggle to deliver at the the volume or speed needed? Maybe you don't need to do it all on your own! Find out more at this event.

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🌍 How will climate change impact your cultural organisation? This downloadable toolkit from Creative Carbon Scotland and Cultural Adaptations helps to support organisations in developing climate adaptation plans. Head on over to our Resource Hub to take a look 👇

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🤝 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆? 🌍 Suffolk County Council's recent opposition to major infrastructure projects highlights a tricky balancing act: how do you look after local communities while still ensuring national progress? In our latest article, Johnathan Reynolds looks at just this, pitching a new way forward - a more collaborative, more constructive form of engagement - that can show how regions can embrace the energy transition in a way that is both sustainable and beneficial for all. "We need to see a much more balanced approach and more proactive and open engagement with developers. Suffolk County Council’s constant opposition is deeply frustrating as Suffolk has some extraordinary investment opportunities across the clean energy sectors. This opposition is also contradictory, considering that these new grid infrastructure projects are precisely what’s needed to continue the growth of the region’s renewable energy sector." #netzero #energytransition #collaboration #climatechange #climateemergency

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Do take a look at our latest insight report, https://lnkd.in/ehy_2ei9. It sets out where we see significant opportunities to get better VFM, the key enablers, and the lessons that come from our work across government. On delivering major infrastructure projects well, he says: - Be clear about what the project must achieve but flexible about how you achieve it. - Involve the organisations you need for success in the project’s governance. - Create a culture of transparency and honesty. - Recognise there are uncertainties and prepare to deal with them. - Be clear with stakeholders about the level of uncertainty in budget or timetable estimates. Happy reading!

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REPORT 📔 | The Resilient Communities Fund got emergency support to community businesses at pace, implementing energy resilience projects in response to climate change and the cost-of-living crisis. The evaluation report by New Local shows that: 1️⃣ Community businesses are at the forefront of addressing the local impacts of the #climatecrisis. They deliver energy efficiency improvements, support local people with the climate crisis's impacts, and implement sustainable practices. The fund has helped safeguard local business, protect jobs and services, and build financial headroom. 2️⃣ The flexibility and simplicity of the fund was critical to its success and impact. This empowered community businesses, freeing them up from funding restrictions and day-to-day challenges and allowing them to tackle immediate pressures and plan for longer-term resilience. 3️⃣ Community businesses and the communities they support, are highly susceptible and exposed to climate change. They need flexible financial support& technical bespoke advice to build towards environmental sustainability. Read more about what we learned from funding projects in this way 👇 https://lnkd.in/enArfCyz

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Through our leadership programmes we provide a wide range of officer development programmes for executive leaders, chief executives, and rising stars. Discover how our sector support programme develops the skills of #LocalGov leaders: https://orlo.uk/G2bR5

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What a difference a year makes! The new NPPF brings big plans for the Green Belt, with a clear message: housing and economic delivery are top priorities – and justification for Green Belt Release! Here’s what’s key to the Green Belt reforms:   🌳 Reinstating Green Belt reviews, providing a structured approach to assessing its potential with the aim of enable housing delivery in constrained areas.   🌳 Prioritizing delivery a major change includes the provision of clear guidance on exceptional circumstances for site releases, particularly when a local authority cannot meet its identified housing, commercial, or other development needs.   🌳 Renewed focus on previously developed land and the much-anticipated introduction of the Grey Belt. This is especially exciting, as it recognizes that many Green Belt sites no longer fulfil their intended functions and could provide sustainable development opportunities. The Grey Belt provides a clear statement of intent, it will be interesting to see how this plays out – we are already speaking with clients and landowners about its potential!   🌳 Introducing the Golden Rules for Green Belt development (because "golden thread" was already taken!):   💸Affordable housing provision,   💸Contributions to local or national infrastructure; AND,   💸New or improved publicly accessible green spaces.   🌳 Paragraph 158: Developments meeting the Golden Rules will be given Significant Weight—a much-needed boost, though these rules may make such projects feel “gold-plated,” especially given current constraints on development delivery.   Overall, I see these changes as a fantastic opportunity to unlock Green Belt sites that are ripe for reconsideration – particularly those with clear development potential. However, it’s clear that delivering on these opportunities will come with significant costs – especially when we remember other changes planning changes this year (dare I bring up mandatory BNG). If all goes smoothly, it seems, in theory at least this could be a great solution for balancing housing delivery and protecting true, functioning Green Belt land.   What do you think? Are these changes the balance we need for housing and economic growth? How do you like ai's take on #GreenBelt development? #NPPF #HousingDelivery #Newsteer #aiImages Newsteer Real Estate Advisers

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Taking a break from #CReDo to post something dear to my heart 💕 Over the last year, I collaborated with the most amazing colleagues at Connected Places Catapult, Oldham Council and Carbon Co-op to develop a service blueprint for #community-based #retrofit of #homes for improved #health and #climate outcomes for people and places. The resulting white paper offers not only a blueprint guide for #LocalAuthorities in developing and delivering a holistic area-based scheme, but a set of key principles to drive #retrofit and get people across the UK the #housing they deserve. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Principle 1: Retrofit programmes must be outcomes-focused and community-driven. 📈 Principle 2: Retrofit programmes must be evidence-based and data-driven. ⚕Principle 3: Local public health and climate resilience objectives, informed through community need, must be a requirement in the delivery of domestic retrofit solutions. 🏘 Principle 4: ‘Scaling in Place’ is required to realise the public health and climate resilience benefits of retrofit on a national scale. Thank you Helen Tartaglia Ellie Pile Alizée McLorg Jack Vickers Andrew Hunt Jonathan Atkinson Kat W.Louise Marix Evans Natalie Merrick Lorenza Casini for your contribution - now, lets get piloting!!!! https://lnkd.in/ebeU7RUF

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Keen to find out more about a Tay Cities Deal-funded opportunity to innovative with #5G? Join tomorrow's webinar at 11am to find out more about it and to ask any questions about the the fund and the Expression of Interest process. This funding stream is open to any UK-based organisation (with activities taking place in the Tay City Deal region) and you do not need to have prior detailed knowledge of 5G technology - the key things we're looking for at this stage are innovative ideas! Details below: #funding #5g #innovation #taycities

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