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Councils should be rewarded for green growth
Posted: 02/01/2008
Local Councils should actually be rewarded for promoting green growth, the Local Government Information Unit’s Centre for Local Sustainability has said in the wake of the government’s draft Planning Policy Statement 4. This recent statement deals with planning for economic development and says councils must adapt their plans to fit in with changing regeneration and economic factors.
Dr Andy Johnston, head of LGIU, said PPS4 fails to properly integrate economic development with sustainability and warned that the proposals need to go further to reward councils for good performance on the environment.
His warning is backed by findings from a survey, conducted by ComRes on behalf of the LGIU, which revealed that councillors are increasingly recognising the importance of promoting sustainable development.
Out of the 82% of councillors who think councils should be assessed on environmental performance, 92% said they should be rewarded with funds for achieving high standards of environmental sustainability.
And only half of those surveyed said economic development should be given a higher priority than tackling climate change, which shows that environmental issues are gaining greater recognition.
Dr Johnston said: “By any measure 92% is a clear message. Government should use legislation to reward the local authorities that perform well on the environment and help to unleash the power of enterprise to achieve sustainable development. Local authorities can achieve a win/win by attracting the new industries that will thrive in a low carbon future.”
His comments follow the publication of LGIU’s pamphlet Greening Growth, which illustrates how economic development and the environment go hand in hand – the two need not cancel each other out.
Dr Johnston said the problem with PPS4 is that it only uses one indicator of economic development – Gross Value Added (GVA) – which does not properly measure sustainable development.
“The LGIU has shown that green growth is possible and that some local authorities are already leading the way, such as those in the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership. I would like to see PPS4 endorse the economic benefits of new green industries and allow local authorities to move beyond GVA and start valuing the environmental benefits of new developments.”
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