JCS_MasterDocument_FIN_27.03.18

Ambition 2 – A sustainable
natural, built and historic environment
Strategic Objective 4 – Conserving and enhancing
the environment
Ensure that planning policy and decisions:
• Protect and enhance the JCS area’s unique
historic environment, archaeological heritage and
geological assets;
• Conserve, manage and enhance the area’s unique
natural environment and great biodiversity,
including its waterways, Sites of Special Scientific
Interest (SSSI), the Cotswolds AONB, and areas
of landscape and biodiversity importance,
and maximise the opportunities to use land to
manage flood water;
• Require that all new developments, wherever
possible, supports green infrastructure and
improves existing green infrastructure within
urban and rural areas to provide movement
corridors for people and wildlife;
• Within the Development Plan, review the current
Green Belt boundary with a view to releasing
land to help meet the long-term development
needs of the area that cannot be accommodated
elsewhere, whilst providing a long-term
permanent boundary for the future.
Strategic Objective 5 – Delivering excellent
design in new development
Ensure that all new developments are valued by
residents by:
Strategic Objective 6 – Meeting the
challenges of climate change
Make the fullest contribution possible to the
mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change and
the transition to a low-carbon economy, by:
• Making the best use of land by maximising
the use of previously-developed land and
encouraging higher-density developments in
central locations, whilst promoting food security
by protecting the highest-grade agricultural land
and allotments;
• Reducing the use of fossil fuels by increasing selfcontainment
of settlements through mixed-use
developments and providing new developments
in sustainable locations;
• In partnership with others, promoting the
efficient use of natural resources, the re-use
and recycling of resources, the production and
consumption of renewable energy and the
decentralisation of energy generation;
• Encouraging and facilitating low and zero-carbon
energy development and the implementation of
Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS);
• Ensuring that new development is located in
areas which are not liable to flooding, that
existing infrastructure is adequately protected
from the threat of flooding, and that existing
flood defences are protected and enhanced.
• Integrating them well with existing communities
and providing well-located infrastructure which
meets the needs of residents;
• Creating a strong sense of place through high
quality and inclusive design that respects and
enhances local distinctiveness.
Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Joint Core Strategy 2011-2031
Adopted December 2017
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