Event

Westminster Council City Plan 2040 Policy Webinar: Retrofit First and Embodied Carbon

12 Dec 2023 to 12 Dec 2023
10:00 am to 12:00 pm

As part of Westminster City Council’s Partial Review of its City Plan 2040, it is seeking to engage with WPA members on its draft Retrofit First and Embodied Carbon policy.

The proposed new policy will prioritise the retrofit of commercial development over demolition and redevelopment by:

  • Introducing controls on demolition through a series of tests; 
  • Set benchmarks for embodied carbon for major schemes, and when substantial or total demolition is proposed; 
  • Unlocking and promoting retrofit, including by supporting the extension of buildings to facilitate retrofit. 

Over 100 WPA members joined the online webinar hosted by the City Council to hear more about its initial thinking – view the slides below.

Whilst WPA will formally respond on behalf of our members, we would encourage as many as possible to submit their own responses to Planningpolicy@westminster.gov.uk by 22nd December regardless of whether or not you were able to attend this online discussion. If you have any comments for inclusion in WPA’s feedback, please email andrea.williams@cwpa.org.uk.

This is informal engagement so members are reminded that the final proposed policy, which may look different to the existing draft, will be published for formal public consultation early next year.

View the draft policy here. 

View the slides

Further reading:

Report: Retrofit First, Not Retrofit Only: A focus on the retrofit and redevelopment of 20th century buildings

Press Release: Property sector calls for ‘Retrofit first, not retrofit only’ approach in collective drive to reduce building emissions

Speech: Marcus Geddes, WPA Chair’s keynote speech from the 2023 WPA Annual Lunch