Issues and Options

8 Protected Places

8.1 The Protected Places chapter of the Local Plan seeks to preserve and enhance the District's natural and historic environments, minimise the risks associated with flooding and coastal erosion, and address issues related to climate change – particularly through promoting low-carbon energy and water-efficiency, and mitigating the impacts of the changing climate. In addition, there are policies which seek to protect the character of individual settlements by designating 'strategic green gaps' (to avoid towns or villages coalescing into one larger settlement), and which address specific areas within the District that require bespoke policies to protect them.

8.2 Many of the policies in this chapter are performing well and will require little updating as part of the Local Plan review. However, in recent years significant changes have occurred in the way new developments can respond to and mitigate against climate change, and so additional policies are likely to be required in that area.

Climate Change

8.3 In 2019, the Council declared a climate emergency – and the adopted Local Plan includes policies which seek to promote renewable energy generation and energy efficiency measures.

8.4 Carbon emissions in the built environment fall into two broad categories - those that arise from the use or occupation of a building (known as operational carbon), and those associated with the processes and materials used in the construction and eventual disposal of buildings (known as embodied carbon). Together, both operational carbon emissions and embodied carbon emissions form the Whole Life Carbon impact of a development.

8.5 Carbon emissions from the use and occupation of buildings in the UK is estimated to account for 23% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, and this is even higher when you include embodied carbon emissions. The UK has a statutory target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 (as set out in the Climate Change Act 2008). The Climate Change Act sets a further legal target of a 78% reduction in emissions by 2035. The Government's Climate Change Committee has warned that the UK is off target and rapid and deep cuts to emissions must be made in all sectors.

8.6 It is important that new development is built to be net zero carbon in operation from the beginning, and to minimise embodied carbon emissions through all stages of a building's life. For a building to be net zero carbon in its operation it must be an ultra-low energy building that meets high energy efficiency standards, does not use fossil fuel and maximises renewable energy generation. Retrofitting buildings to reduce their carbon emissions is much more disruptive, costly and time consuming than designing buildings to be net zero carbon in the first place.

8.7 In Essex, there is a target for all planning permissions for new buildings to be net zero carbon by 2025, which is included within Essex County Council's Climate Action Plan. Practical design advice is provided in the Essex Design Guide, which focuses on how to design developments (of all types and sizes) to meet net zero carbon and energy standards, mitigate potential overheating risk and to address other related sustainability issues. The aim is to ensure new developments mitigate, adapt and are resilient to a changing climate.

8.8 The adopted Local Plan currently sets out the requirements for new renewable energy generation schemes and the energy efficiency measures required in other kinds of development. However, there is an opportunity (as part of the Local Plan review) to introduce new policies that promote net zero carbon in new development. These policies will need to both reflect current technologies and best practice and also be flexible enough to be able to accommodate the rapid speed at which technology is evolving and improving.

Biodiversity and Geodiversity

8.9 Planning law surrounding biodiversity has changed significantly since the Local Plan was adopted. Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is a way of creating and improving natural habitats, making sure development has a measurably positive impact ('net gain') on biodiversity, compared to what was there before development. It is now a legal requirement for many types of developments to deliver at least 10% BNG, and the Council has put processes in place to properly assess and monitor this requirement.

8.10 As part of the Local Plan review, it will be necessary to consider whether the existing policy for biodiversity is still adequate or whether it requires updating to best reflect the new legislation and to meet the Council's objective to enhance the quality of the natural environment.

8.11 The Council may wish to set out local priorities and strategies that developers will be required to take into account when delivering BNG, such as locally important habitats and the Local Nature Recovery Strategy. This will help to ensure that BNG contributes to wider nature recovery plans as well as local objectives, and that the right habitats are provided in the right places. The Local Plan may also be able to allocate specific sites that developers can use to deliver BNG, where it is not possible to fully meet the requirements on a particular development site.

8.12 A key priority for the Local Nature Recovery Strategy and BNG is to connect existing areas of habitat. By creating networks of green infrastructure (on land) and blue infrastructure (rivers and waterways), the wildlife that occupy them and the habitats themselves can be supported to improve and thrive. This ambition is reflected in Objective 8 of the Local Plan, which seeks to provide a network of interconnected multi-functional natural green and blue spaces which secures a net gain in biodiversity."

8.13 By developing the Local Plans policies around biodiversity and nature recovery, there will also be a greater opportunity to link BNG with other strategic objectives identified through the Plan, such as recreation and health, flood risk, active travel, and ensuring suitable adaptation and mitigation to effects of climate change.

8.14 The BNG legislation requires new developments to achieve at least 10% biodiversity net-gain, and some authorities have set requirements through their Local Plans to secure a greater increase of 20% or 25%. The Essex Local Nature Partnership has recommended that 20% BNG is a suitable policy target for authorities in Essex, and there is the possibility that, with appropriate evidence to justify the policy and demonstrate its viability, the updated Local Plan could also seek to secure greater environmental gains from new development that takes place in the District.

8.15 Policy PPL5 of the adopted Local Plan seeks to ensure that all new development makes adequate provision for drainage and sewerage and includes sustainable drainage systems. Some of the requirements of this policy overlap with the aims of biodiversity net-gain, and it may be appropriate to incorporate relevant areas into a new or updated biodiversity net gain policy.

Flood Risk, Coastal Protection Belt and the Rural Landscape

8.16 The Local Plan includes policies that seek to protect the natural environment and ensure that new development is in suitable locations that do not make it vulnerable to flooding or other environmental risks.

8.17 Policy PPL1 in the adopted Local Plan sets out the requirements for development within a flood zone (which includes flood zones 2 and 3 as defined by the Environment Agency). The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment for the District will need to be updated as part of the Local Plan review, but the Policy requirements are performing well and should not require any significant changes.

8.18 Policy PPL2 in the adopted Local Plan designates certain areas of the District as Coastal Protection Belt and seeks to protect the open character of the undeveloped coastline by preventing new development in these locations. This policy has been effective at resisting inappropriate development and could be carried forward into the updated Local Plan relatively unchanged, but it may be necessary to review the boundary of the Coastal Protection Belt to ensure it remains appropriate and considers any new land allocations that may come forward as part of the Local Plan review process.

8.19 Policy PPL3 in the adopted Local Plan sets out how the Council will protect the rural landscape from any development that will cause overriding harm to its character or appearance. Since the adoption of the Local Plan, national planning guidance has been updated and now requires Local Plans to demonstrate how they will contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by protecting and enhancing valued landscapes, sites of biodiversity or geological value and soils, recognising the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside, and the wider benefits from natural capital and ecosystem services.

8.20 Whilst the Council's Landscape Character Assessment must be updated, it is considered that these Policies are working well and need little in the way of updating.

Strategic Green Gaps

8.21 Strategic Green Gaps are an important designation in the adopted Local Plan which seek to prevent specific settlements slowly growing and coalescing. They enable villages and towns to retain their separate identities and ensure the long-term separation of those settlements. The existing Strategic Green Gaps designated in the Local Plan are based on up-to-date evidence that was found to be sound when the adopted Local Plan was examined in 2021, and it is one of the 'guiding principles' of this review that the Strategic Green Gaps won't be reduced. Strategic Green gaps exist around the edge of Clacton, between Kirby Cross and Kirby-le-Soken, between Dovercourt and Great Oakley, and on the edge of Manningtree.

8.22 Since the adoption of the Local Plan there have been key examples of development proposals being successfully resisted by the Council because they fall within areas protected by the Strategic Green Gap designation, and the wording of the policy has been found to be effective.

8.23 There may, however, be the need for additional or extended Strategic Green Gaps – for example to the east of the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community to ensure the continued separation of this new development from Elmstead Market village.

The Historic Environment

8.24 Policies within the Historic Environment section of the Local Plan set out the requirement to protect and enhance heritage assets within our district. These policies cover the impact of new development on archaeological remains, designated Conservation Areas, as well as Listed Buildings and their setting.

8.25 The Council has, over the past few years, been undertaking a thorough review of our Conservation Area Appraisals. This has been an extensive process that has involved public consultation with those who live and work within Conservation Areas in Tendring. The work is nearly finished, with a number of updated appraisals due to be formally adopted by the Council. The new Conservation Area Appraisals will provide a valuable tool for determining Planning Applications that might impact the historic environment and will give developers and homeowners greater clarity around the types of development that might be appropriate within these areas.

8.26 The policies in the adopted Local Plan have been effective in allowing the Council to ensure development meets the objective of protecting the District's historic environment and it is considered that they could be carried forward unchanged into the updated Local Plan.

8.27 Two areas within the District have specific policies designed to protect their special and unique characters: The Avenues area in Frinton (PPL11), and The Gardens area in east Clacton (PPL12). These policies have been effective in preserving the character of these areas, and it is not expected that any updates will be required in this review.