All-Party Group on Climate Action discusses land use and planning

Posted 4 years ago

02/06/2021

The All-Party Group (APG) on Climate Action met last Friday which focussed on issues relating to sustainable land use and planning, with opening remarks by Infrastructure Minister, Nichola Mallon MLA, and presentations by officials from Belfast City Council and Professor Neil Galway of Queen’s University Belfast. The APG is chaired by Rachel Woods MLA and RSUA has been engaging with the group on issues which relate to the built and natural environment over recent months.

The Minister gave an overview of regional planning policy and how the Department for Infrastructure is supporting the climate and energy transition. Dermot O’Kane from Belfast City Council delivered a presentation on local policy interventions in Belfast and ideas on how to strengthen regional planning policy. The slide deck is available here

Professor Neil Galway from Queens University Belfast then delivered a presentation on emerging progressive planning policies, with examples of best practice planning solutions from around the world. The slide deck is available here.

In addition to the above, members may be interested to know that at a previous meeting on 30 April the following presentations were delivered and resources shared:

Presentations:

ACAN! presentation (The carbon footprint of construction)
Department of Finance Update (Briefing on plans for Part L)
Construction and Procurement Delivery (Embedding sustainability and climate action in public procurement)

These useful resources were shared after the April meeting

ACAN! report – The case for regulating embodied carbon in construction
London Planning Guidance – Whole Life-Cycle Carbon Assessments Guidance
Procurement Guidance – The Construction Playbook – Guidance for Government on sourcing and contracting public works, projects and programmes