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developing an adaptation action plan Jeff Wilson explains how climate change adaptation and planmaking has evolved – aided by experience gained as a partner in the GRaBS project – in the London Borough of Sutton Photos and diagrams courtesy of London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton had already made progress in dealing with the challenges of climate change adaptation following the introduction of national indicators through the Climate Change Act 2008, but it was clear from early discussions with the TCPA about becoming a partner in GRaBS that this project provided an ideal opportunity to take forward the Council’s corporate policies and proposals on climate change adaptation through the planning system as part of Sutton’s Local Development Framework (LDF). At the start of the GRaBS project in September 2008, the Council’s Core Strategy Development Plan Document (DPD) was already fairly well advanced, having reached the Preferred Options Left Surface water flooding in Wallington town centre, within the London Borough of Sutton, in 2007 stage in November 2007, and with approval of the Proposed Submission document scheduled for November 2008. The major thrust of policy on climate change at that time concerned mitigation and the adoption of ‘One Planet Living’ principles within Sutton, covering zero-carbon buildings, zero waste, sustainable transport, local and sustainable materials etc., as well as seeking to deliver sustainable regeneration and growth in the Hackbridge neighbourhood and Sutton town centre. The Council’s policy on climate change adaptation focused primarily on flood risk management and promoting effective adaptation measures as part of new development. 282 Town & Country Planning June 2011 : GRaBS Project – INTERREG IVC; ERDF-funded
Left London Borough of Sutton’s assessment of flood risk from the River Wandle The most significant future potential impacts from river (fluvial) flooding within the Borough are from the River Wandle, a tributary of the Thames, which affects a large part of the Borough to the north east, including the preferred redevelopment opportunities within the proposed Hackbridge sustainable suburb and proposals for a new district shopping centre. Hackbridge is also affected by significant risks of surface water flooding, with many locations experiencing problems during the severe storm event of July 2007. The draft LDF Core Policies very much reflected national policy, set out in Planning Policy Statement: Planning and Climate Change. Supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1 (2007), and the Mayor’s Replacement London Plan of 2008, and were not seriously challenged at the Examination into the Core Strategy in June 2009. Equally, based on the recommendations of the joint Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) for the River Wandle catchment undertaken with the London Boroughs of Wandsworth, Croydon and Merton in 2008, the Council was able to agree its broad policy approach on flood risk with the Environment Agency. The benefits of the Council’s ongoing involvement in the GRaBS project became much more apparent in the preparation of Sutton’s detailed ‘Site Allocations and Development Management’ DPD, which followed on from and supported the adopted Core Strategy. The Proposed Submission document, approved for consultation in January 2010, included a discrete policy on climate change adaptation, which integrated the core principles of the GRaBS project by seeking to ensure that the location, layout and design of all developments promote effective adaptation to the future impacts of climate change by: ● ‘maximising the role of green infrastructure, including open spaces, parks, wildlife corridors, tree planting, communal and private gardens and green roofs/walls as part of wider green space networks (‘green grid’), in urban cooling and in achieving a range of additional benefits for flood storage/SUDS, environmental enhancement, local amenity, recreation, biodiversity and habitats and sustainable transport’; and ● ‘maximising the role of blue infrastructure, including river corridors, natural floodplains, ponds and other water features in urban cooling and achieving a number of additional benefits for flood storage/SUDS, environmental enhancement, local amenity, recreation and biodiversity and habitats’. The formulation of this policy and its refinement in the Submission document for purposes of the Examination in Public later in 2011 owes a great deal to work undertaken in relation to two of the main outputs from the GRaBS project. First, the online climate change risk and vulnerability ‘Assessment Tool’, developed in collaboration with the University of Manchester using spatial data on a wide range of climate impacts affecting Sutton, helped the Council to acquire a thorough understanding of the specific problems and opportunities which needed to be addressed in different parts of the Borough. The Council also recognised the Assessment Tool’s significant potential as a vehicle for community engagement and awareness-raising on climate change impacts. Secondly, the blue and green space adaptation principles underlying this policy have largely been shaped by the emerging Adaptation Action Plan (AAP) for Sutton. In addition – and equally important – partner meetings, mentoring visits and work undertaken by the other GRaBS partners in the course of the Town & Country Planning June 2011 : GRaBS Project – INTERREG IVC; ERDF-funded 283
Page 1 and 2: The Journal of the Town and Country
Page 3 and 4: contents June 2011 ● Vol. 80 ●
Page 5 and 6: inside stories Town and Country Pla
Page 7 and 8: planning world historic paper in Na
Page 9 and 10: enough is enough Pickles chants:
Page 11 and 12: off the fence Committee even in hea
Page 13 and 14: The GRaBS project The GRaBS (Green
Page 15 and 16: projections found that: ‘The data
Page 17 and 18: Building adaptive capacity Review e
Page 19 and 20: implementation of sustainable drain
Page 21 and 22: 12 Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Ad
Page 23 and 24: encouraged to consider from the out
Page 25 and 26: change problems, and adaptation mea
Page 27 and 28: Implementation l l l Undertake a
Page 29 and 30: Above Fig. 2 Pilot interface used w
Page 31 and 32: a critical role for green and blue
Page 33 and 34: Vegetation can also be harnessed to
Page 35 and 36: Biodiversity conservation and manag
Page 37 and 38: A collaborative cross-sector approa
Page 39 and 40: delivering green infrastructure to
Page 41 and 42: district, and neighbourhood levels
Page 43: Above Fig. 2 Visualisations of the
Page 47 and 48: Left Workshop session using the ‘
Page 49 and 50: the green space factor and green po
Page 51 and 52: Agricultural University, the Swedis
Page 53 and 54: participation in adaptation - an ur
Page 55 and 56: ● they might observe a discrepanc
Page 57 and 58: Box 1 The Colne Valley Park at a gl
Page 59 and 60: including underpinning a green loca
Page 61 and 62: going local tcpa publications mail
Page 63 and 64: connections Paul Burall on recyclin

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