from Sunday Herald, 18 July 2010
A major local authority has been accused of breaking the law by failing to cut climate pollution, raising the first prospect of a legal challenge under Scotland’s world-leading climate legislation.
Aberdeenshire Council is under attack for not insisting on tough enough measures to improve energy insulation in new homes and offices. Its proposed local development plan contains less ambitious targets than those specified in the 2009 Climate Change Act.
According to the Scottish Greens, this means that the council is exposing itself to court action in the future. The council says its stance has been backed by the Scottish government, though this was not confirmed by a government spokesman.
A public consultation on Aberdeenshire’s proposed development plan, which has been backed by a majority of councillors, was launched this month. In its supplementary guidance the plan promises to only approve new buildings “if the predicted carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by at least 30% beyond the 2007 building regulations’ carbon dioxide emissions standard.”
Section 72 of the Scottish Climate Change Act, however, requires that all new buildings must cut “a specified and rising proportion of the projected greenhouse gas emissions from their use”. Because the council’s plan does not insist that cuts in emissions should keep getting increasingly deeper as years go by, critics allege it is illegal.
“It seems clear that Aberdeenshire Council has voted to approve a proposed local development plan that does not fully comply with the requirements of the 2009 Climate Change Act,” said councillor Martin Ford, a member of the Scottish Greens. “This is both foolish and wrong.”
He proposed an amendment based on the council’s previous planning guidance requiring that emissions from new buildings should be reduced by 60% after 2012, by 90% after 2014 and by 100% after 2016. But the amendment was rejected by 51 votes to six.
“The new proposed plan dilutes Aberdeenshire Council's existing policy commitment to reducing climate change emissions from new buildings - just a year after ground-breaking national targets were agreed to accelerate cuts in emissions,” argued councillor Ford.
“Once again, the rhetoric on climate change is not being matched by what is happening in practice. Aberdeenshire Council's actions are inconsistent with its own stated position and national commitments.”
He warned that Aberdeenshire’s action could set a worrying precedent that would be followed by other councils. “If the proposed plan is not altered before it comes into force, clearly there has to be a risk that it will be subject to legal challenge,” he said.
The council, however, insisted that its development plan was not illegal. “We sought Scottish Government advice on the policy in the draft Aberdeenshire local plan and associated wording, and it is content that it covers our legal obligations,” said a spokesman for the council.
The target was set in accordance with planning policy, and current building regulations, the spokesman continued. “We considered it unwise to try to second guess what standards might be set out in future building regulations,” he said.
“A target has been set out in supplementary guidance, but this can be revised as required in the light of new regulations. If anyone disagrees with that approach they are entitled to say so and make any comments.”
The Green MSP, Patrick Harvie, was deeply worried by the council’s defence of its actions. “I sincerely hope that the error lies with the local authority, and that the Scottish government is not signing off inadequate plans of this sort by our councils,” he told the Sunday Herald.
“If they are, then the SNP administration's credibility is completely in tatters. Scottish ministers must not seek to undermine the Climate Change Act in this way, nor help others to do so.”
A Scottish government spokesman said: “We expect to be formally notified of the proposed Aberdeenshire local development plan and will consider the need to make representations to Aberdeenshire Council on the content.”
He added: “New building standards will reduce emissions from new buildings, both domestic and non-domestic, by 30 per cent on 2007 levels and by 70 per cent on 1990 levels – cutting energy bills, creating new jobs in small scale renewables technologies and giving Scotland some of the greenest buildings in Europe.”
Comments