Colchester City Council Preferred Options Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation 2025

Policy NZ1: Net Zero Carbon Development (in operation) Comment

Minor residential development proposals (less than 10 dwellings) that are designed and built to the fabric and systems specifications (the ‘minimum standards approach’) set out in Table 2 (or successor) are deemed to have met Requirements 1 and 3. Requirements 2, 4 and 5a must also be met to achieve policy compliance.

A) New build development (residential and non-residential)

All new buildings must be designed and built to be Net Zero Carbon in operation. They must be ultra-low energy buildings, fossil fuel free, and generate renewable energy on-site to at least match predicted annual energy use.

All new buildings (1 dwelling and above for residential; 100m2 floorspace and above for non-residential) are required to comply with requirements 1 to 5 as set out below:

1. Requirement 1: Space heating demand limits

1. Residential buildings (apart from bungalows) and non-residential buildings must achieve a space heating demand of 15 kWh/m2 GIA (gross internal floor area)/year or less.
2. Bungalows must achieve a space heating demand of 20 kWh/m2 GIA/year or less.

2. Requirement 2: Fossil fuel free

1. No new buildings shall be connected to the gas grid; and
2. Fossil fuels must not be used on-site to provide space heating, domestic hot water or cooking.

3. Requirement 3: Energy Use Intensity (EUI) limits

1. Residential buildings (Use Class C3 and C4) must achieve an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of no more than 35 kWh/m2 GIA/yr.
2. The following non-residential buildings must achieve an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of no more than the following (where technically feasible) by building type or nearest equivalent:

• Offices – 70 kWh/m2 GIA/year
• Schools – 65 kWh/m2 GIA/year
• Light Industrial – 35 kWh/m2 GIA/year

3. For other residential and non-residential buildings, that are not covered by a) and b) above, applicants should report their energy use intensity but are not required to comply with a certain limit.

4. Requirement 4: On-site renewable energy generation

Renewable energy must be generated on-site for all new developments by whichever of the following results in the greater amount of rooftop solar PV energy (electricity) generation:

1. The amount of energy generated in a year should match or exceed the predicted annual energy use of the building, i.e. Renewable energy generation (kWh/m2 /year) = or > predicted annual energy use (kWh/m2 /year)*; or
2. the amount of energy generated in a year is:

• at least 80 kWh/m2 building footprint per year* for all building types; and
• at least 120 kWh/m2 building footprint per year* for industrial buildings.

*For development proposals where it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Council that meeting Requirement 4 is not technically feasible then renewable energy generation on-site should be maximised and the residual amount of renewable energy generation (equivalent to the shortfall in meeting the annual energy use of the building in kWh/year) must be offset by a financial contribution (to cover the administration, purchasing and installation of a solar PV renewable energy (electricity) system elsewhere in the plan area or county, which is able to generate a similar amount of energy) and be paid into the Council's offset fund.

The offset price is set at £1.35 per kWh or the most recent updated version and the contribution shall be calculated at the time of planning application determination.

5. Requirement 5: As-built performance confirmation and in-use monitoring

1. All developments must submit as-built performance information at completion and prior to occupation; and
2. In-use energy monitoring is required on a minimum of 10% of dwellings for development proposals of 100 dwellings or more, for the first 5 years of operation.

Alternative routes to meeting policy requirements

Proposals that are built and certified to the Passivhaus Classic or higher PassivHaus standard are deemed to have met Requirements 1 and 3. Requirements 2, 4 and 5 must also be met to achieve policy compliance.

Minor residential development proposals (less than 10 dwellings) that are designed and built to the fabric and systems specifications (the ‘minimum standards approach’) set out in Table 2 (or successor) are deemed to have met Requirements 1 and 3.  Requirements 2, 4 and 5a must also be met to achieve policy compliance. 

B) Extensions and Conversions Applications for residential extensions and conversions affecting existing buildings (but excluding Listed Buildings) are encouraged to meet the minimum standards approach fabric specifications set out in the table below and maximise renewable energy generation where practical and feasible.

Updated and adapted from Report 2: Essex Net Zero Policy – Policy Summary, Evidence and Validation.

Policy NZ2: Net Zero Carbon Development – embodied carbon Comment

All development proposals must demonstrate the measures taken to minimise embodied carbon (subject to meeting Policy NZ1 requirements first) and how circular economy principles have been embedded into the design. In doing so:

1. Priority should be given to re-using, renovating or retrofitting existing buildings and/or structures on a site and demolition will only be acceptable where justified to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority.
2. Proposals for all new residential and non-residential buildings must demonstrate that upfront embodied carbon* has been considered and reduced as far as possible through good design and material efficiency.
3. New major developments, major retrofits and rebuild developments are required to achieve the following set limits for upfront embodied carbon and this should be demonstrated through an embodied carbon assessment using a nationally recognised methodology:

• Low rise residential (up to 11m): ≤500 kgCO2e/m2 (GIA**);
• Mid and high rise residential (over 11m) - ≤500 kgCO2e/m2 (GIA) or follow NZCBS*** limits when available;
• Non-domestic buildings: offices ≤600 kgCO2e/m2 (GIA); education ≤500 kgCO2e/m2 (GIA); and retail ≤550 kgCO2e/m2 (GIA) or follow NZCBS limits when available; and
• For building services, meet the global warming potential refrigerant limits set out in NZCBS when available.

*Upfront Embodied Carbon = emissions associated with the Building Life Cycle Stages A1-A5 and RIBA stages 2/3, 4 and 6)

**GIA = Gross internal floor area

***NZCBS = UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standards (pilot launched September 2024).

Policy NZ3: Wastewater and Water Supply Comment

The Council will work with Anglian Water, Affinity Water, the Environment Agency and developers to ensure that there is sufficient capacity in the water supply and wastewater infrastructure to serve new development.

Where necessary, improvements to water supply infrastructure, wastewater treatment and off-site drainage should be made ahead of the occupation of dwellings to ensure compliance with environmental legislation.

To achieve greater water efficiencies and support demand management, all new buildings must include water efficiency measures. Residential development will be required to meet the water efficiency standard of 80 litres per person per day. Proposals should submit a water efficiency calculator report to demonstrate compliance and include clear evidence on the approach to water conservation.

Residential proposals of 100 dwellings or more will be required to demonstrate that a full range of options to significantly reduce reliance on potable water demand, including water efficiency, rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling, has been fully explored and incorporated into the scheme.

Major non-residential development that requires significant non-domestic water use will be required to prepare a Water Resources Assessment and undertake early discussions with Anglian Water Services to ascertain water availability and feasibility of the scheme and demonstrate innovative solutions to reduce water demands.

Proposals within the catchments of the following Water Recycling Centres: Dedham, Fingringhoe, Great Tey, Langham and West Bergholt must demonstrate they have confirmed with Anglian Water Services that treatment capacity at the Water Recycling Centre (WRC) is available to serve the development at the point of anticipated connectionand where appropriate phasing triggers to support development to be agreed.

Development within the Colchester WRC drainage catchment must discharge attenuated surface water to a receiving waterbody and not to the combined sewer network, unless it can be demonstrated that there is no other option.

Development within the drainage catchments of Copford, Tiptree and West Bergholt WRCs must not discharge surface water to the foul sewer network.

Land is allocated as an extension to Anglian Water Services Colchester Water Recycling Centre.

Policy NZ4: Renewable Energy Comment

Planning applications for renewable energy schemes in appropriate locations will be supported by the Council in principle. It is accepted that this may result in the loss of Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land.

All applications for renewable energy schemes should be located and designed in such a way to minimise increases in ambient noise levels. Landscape and visual impacts should be mitigated through good design, careful siting and layout and landscaping measures. Schemes should be considered in relation to impacts upon the historic environment. Transport Assessments covering the construction, operation and decommissioning of any wind farm or solar farm proposal will be required and should be produced at the pre-application stage so acceptability can be determined and mitigation measures identified. A condition will be attached to planning consents for wind turbines and solar farm proposals to ensure that the site is restored when the turbines or panels are taken out of service.

The mitigation measures identified in the Environmental Statement, required for large scale renewable energy schemes, must be incorporated into the design of the scheme or secured via condition.

To maximise environmental benefits, the Council encourages all solar farm proposals to deliver biodiversity net gain of at least 50% and an increase in tree canopy cover of at least 50%.

Community Led Energy: The positive benefits of community energy schemes will be a material consideration in assessing renewable energy development proposals. The preference is for schemes that are led by and directly meet the needs of local communities, in line with the hierarchy and project attributes below:

1. Project part or fully owned by a local community group or social enterprise;
2. Local community members have a governance stake in the project or organisation e.g. with voting rights.

The Council's Sustainability Checklist should be completed and submitted with all major planning applications to explain and evidence how the proposal complies with Local Plan policies and guidance that seek to improve the environmental sustainability of new development.