Statement in response to the proposed increase in Westminster City Council’s carbon offset price as part of the Planning Obligations and Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document (POAH SPD).
Charles Begley, Chief Executive, Westminster Property Association, said:
“We are still going through the details of the consultation, but from our initial analysis the methodology for the proposed carbon offset fee appears deeply flawed and inconsistent with the London Plan, which expects charges to be based around either a national carbon price, or local offset costs, which is clearly not the case here.
“Whilst we fully support the Council’s ambitions to help tackle climate change, and indeed many of our members are setting themselves even more stringent deadlines for achieving net zero, planning policy needs to be an enabler of sustainable development. Our fear is that these proposals will achieve the opposite.
“The proposed carbon offset fee seems excessively high and doesn’t take into account the efforts taken to optimise a development’s carbon performance whilst often working within the constraints of a retained structure and heritage assets.”
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