Sustainable Development is development which meets current population needs without compromising the needs of future citizens.
A healthy populace that can access a good standard of living, with education, health and food services, as well as leisure and a choice of retail needs being readily available is part of achieving a truly sustainable Stockport.
Maintaining a strong, local low carbon economy is also key to ensuring sustainable development. All of these approaches work towards ensuring enhancement of our local environment, maintaining a green and leafy borough which is rich in varied wildlife and delivers a green urban environment too.
This in turn allows us to market Stockport as a desirable and healthy place to live and work. The UK Sustainable Development Strategy outlines the following four shared priority actions for taking sustainable development forward:
- Sustainable consumption & production
- Climate change and energy
- Natural resource protection and environmental enhancement
- Sustainable communities
Planning & Health
Sustainable design ideals are recognised by health professionals as essential in delivering housing and working environments which promote mental and physical wellbeing. A healthy lifestyle can be achieved if buildings and public realm offer opportunities for residents to travel using walking, cycling and public transport. It is also achievable if people can work in healthy buildings and get their leisure or rest requirements in pleasant surroundings which support activity and/or relaxation. Protection and enhancement of the natural environment, open space and green transport corridors is essential to ensure residents can exercise whilst undertaking their day to day activities such as commuting, walking the kids to school or visiting friends and family.
Sustainable Design & Construction
There are several building and environmental standards (e.g. BREEAM, Code for Sustainable Homes) which can be useful in improving development through both the design and construction phases. These are reflected in Stockport’s own Sustainable Design & Construction SPD (a link to which is available under 'Related Documents' to the right of this page) which is a manual for designers and developers to guide them through suggested improvements to their practices and processes.
These approaches aim not only to protect the environment but also to ensure a healthy built environment for residents and visitors, as well as supporting a sustainable local economy by helping businesses to operate more efficiently.
Using more resource efficient processes can and does save money and the buildings and public realm produced in this way result in a living environment which promotes health and well being.
There is an accompanying checklist with the Sustainable Design & Construction SPD which is designed to reflect the range of environmental standards available and can be used at any stage of design or construction to check for areas of potential improvement.
It is full of useful contacts and resources, some of whom are government sponsored regional or local schemes who can advise on being more efficient, accessing finance and/or funding, or simply explain the best options.
Check out the ‘Guidance on Completing’ section of the Checklist for further advice as outlined below. Alternatively please contact the Health & Environment Advisor for more information on any of the following:
- Location & Transport – including green travel planning guidance
- Site Layout & Building Design – find out about ideas such as passive solar design
- Materials – access the wealth of information on resourcing more sustainable materials or re-using your own
- Waste – find out how to save money by sorting and recycling waste
- Energy – there is a wealth of assistance on energy efficient design, low and zero carbon as well as renewable energy options
- Water – view the options from sustainable urban drainage to green roofs to permeable paving
- Landscape & Biodiversity – why not find out which local species to plant and enhance the marketability of your site through its biodiversity benefits
- Health & Wellbeing – a healthy building improves workforce productivity and performance
- Marketing & Management – access the growing demand for resource efficient buildings
There are more resources available to help with sustainable design and construction including training (often free), events and networking opportunities via the Sustainable Buildings regional network. See the Related Links section to the right of this page for this and other training and information resources.
What can Design or Construction Professionals do?
Stockport’s Core Strategy has specific policies on managing carbon emissions from development in the Borough. Under Related Documents on the right of this webpage there are a variety of guidance documents to help with implementing the policies. If you are undertaking an extension to a house in the Borough then you will be required to complete the House Extension Energy Checklist which includes guidance on how to complete the checklist. If you are delivering new development you are required to provide an energy statement no matter what scale of development you are undertaking. The Low Carbon Design Guidance document will take you through the steps required for inclusion in an energy statement, explaining the policy requirements for all scales of development. In addition there is Stockport’s Guidance to Technology Costs which can inform the local costs for different low carbon technology options for different types of development. If you are interested in considering district heating as a solution to managing the carbon emissions for a development then Stockport’s District Heating Feasibility Guidance will talk you through the requirements of undertaking feasibility work. In addition we have five case studies for you to examine as examples of how such work can be achieved – please download Stockport’s District Heating Feasibility Case Studies. The original studies that these guidance are drawn from, titled Stockport Climate Change & Energy Evidence Study and Stockport Low Carbon Policy Implementation Evidence Study, are available to download for those interested.
Local Examples
The post of Health & Environment Advisor aims to promote the ideals of sustainable design and construction resulting in the delivery of some of the following examples. Other colleagues across the Council are also working to deliver on many schemes which are helping to ensure that Stockport is a leading green Borough.
More and more residents are installing renewable energy systems, green roofs and water efficient devices – the Planning Policy Team are keen to know more about further schemes coming on line.
‘The BAM Building in Stockport is the first BREEAM Excellent office building in the Borough, making use of an energy efficient air conditioning system, lighting which adjusts automatically to suit daylight levels together with motion controls, as well as showering and changing facilities, (and bike storage) for those wanting to commute using cycling or walking. For more detail on the development download the information sheet on the BAM Building from Related Documents to the right of this page.‘
Stockport already has an EcoHome completed in January 2004. This three bedroomed dormer bungalow in Cheadle Hulme achieved ‘Excellent’ under the EcoHomes standard. Please download further information from the Related Documents section on the right of the page.
Reddish Vale Community Garden showcases a community green roof and a solar photovoltaic demonstration project, completed in December 2004. For further information see the ‘Related Documents’ on the right of the page.
Several micro hydro sites across the Borough were examined for potential to deliver hydro power and two sites are in development as a result of this work. Otterspool and Stringers Weir sites are being taken forward by Stockport Hydro and will have the capacity to produce enough renewable electricity for the equivalent of 120 homes.