All new buildings in Rottingdean should include electric vehicle charging points, planners are proposing.
Residents are being given the chance to have their say on a range of proposed new planning rules aimed at improving air quality and traffic management.
Residents have six weeks to comment on the Neighbourhood Plan for Rottingdean, which includes ideas on how to tackle congestion, encourage sustainable transport and reduce illegal lorry journeys on the B2123.
Sue John, chair of Rottingdean Parish Council, which prepared the plan, said: “We want Rottingdean to remain a characterful, chalk downland village by the sea, with its distinctive and vernacular architecture and varied natural features.
“We have tried, wherever possible, to reflect the views and needs of Rottingdean residents and stakeholders within our goals and policies which we trust will frame the basis of development for Rottingdean until the year 2030.”
The plan states: “Rottingdean Parish Council supports the introduction and sustainable growth of electric vehicle charging points within the parish, to encourage the use of electric vehicles in preference to diesel or petrol vehicles which impact negatively on air quality.
“All new detached or semi-detached residential properties in the neighbourhood area should be provided with an electric car vehicle charging point to industry standards at the time that the planning application is determined.
“Insofar as planning permission is required, proposals for the installation of electric vehicle charging points in existing residential or commercial areas will be supported where the charging points will not impact negatively on the existing street scene.”
Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Following completion of the current consultation, the draft plan along with all comments received will be submitted for examination by an independent examiner.
“Following receipt of the examiners’ report, the council must then decide what action to take in response to the examiner’s recommendations and to decide whether the plan should proceed to a local referendum.
“Once a neighbourhood plan is formally approved, it becomes part of the statutory development plan and would therefore be used by the council for decision making purposes. It would therefore be used in the determination of planning applications.
“The Rottingdean Plan includes a draft policy on EV charging points. This is also a requirement that is now enforceable by building regulations.”
And solar panels. It is crazy that any new build is allowed without these.
There’s plans in the work to retrofit solar panels throughout the city, that’ll make a good dent in rescuing grid dependency.
Except anything listed which can’t even have double glazing …
There are only 24 G1 Listed Buildings in Brighton and Hove, Ian. And I don’t suppose you suggest double-glazing the stained glass of things like churches, which lowers that number for consideration.
And nothing past 1962, and buildings can also be delisted for the purposes of improving insulation, so all in all, I don’t think your comment really makes too much sense in this context, I’m afraid.