Planning for Future Weather and Climate

East Midlands

Planning for Future Weather and Climate

Briefing Event: Nottingham28th February 2011

gerry.metcalf@ukcip.org.uk

DON’T FORGET TO USE TAHOMA FONT

Gerry MetcalfKnowledge Transfer ManagerUK Climate Impacts Programme

The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP)

“Helps organisations to assess how they might be affected by climate change, so that they can prepare for its impacts”.

• Set up by UK Government in 1997

• Funded by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

• Based at University of Oxford

Works through:

• Stakeholder-led research

• Partnerships

• Programmes, and

• Capacity building

• Common tools/datasets (free)

UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP)

• The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) helps organisations to adapt to inevitable climate change.

• Since 1997 UKCIP has been working with the public, private and voluntary sectors to assess how a changing climate will affect:

construction, working practices, demand for goods and services, biodiversity, service delivery, spatail planning, health, local authorities, central government, transport, waste, business, etc

• Warmer temperatures, heavier rainfall, rising sea levels: our website can help you plan to adapt, so that you can prepare for negative impacts, and take advantage of any positive ones.

• All our tools and services are freely available.

• Contact for spatial planning:

gerry.metcalf@ukcip.org.uk

Aims for today

to identify the specific wants and needs of spatial planners in the East Midlands wrt adapting to changing weather and climate

in order to:

inform the development of a support programme to be funded by the EM RIEP

Proposed support programme can include:

• One-to-one support for individual authorities• Support for clusters of (neighbouring or thematic) authorities• Workshop programme• Publications on selected topics• Others

Programme for today

• Aims: Project context ? Those present ?

• Policy Context: In a policy vacuum what should we do?

• Other strategic questions to be answered

Spatial scalesTarget AudiencesStyle

ContentOthers Existing materials to support spatial planners

• Workshop: Consider alternative approaches

• Summary and Next Steps

The story so far……….

Consider the support needs of spatial planners in dealing withAdaptation to changing climate and weather

UKCIP and partners (TCPA, CABE, RTPI, POS, etc) prompted by national RIEPsleading to UKCIP and partners in support of RIEPs in EM

workshops held to map material that is already availableidentifiesgaps that need to be filled

Leading to Further work on what identifying what practicing planners need/want

Changing Policy context

o  Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) – First Adaptation Report

o CBI – Adaptation Report

o Demise of NI188

o Demise of RDAs, and GOs

o Future of LSPs?

o Role of LEPs

o Demise of Statutory Spatial Planning framework

o Demise of Regional Planning

o New localism

o Big Society

o Others?

Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) report – Sept 2010 Identifies five adaptation priorities for UK:

• Land use planning

• Providing national infrastructure

• Designing and renovating buildings

• Managing natural resources

• Emergency planning

Many of which are relevant to D4FC

CBI report September 2010 Recommendations for Business

• Include climate risks in business risks assessment

• Adaptation strategies – sustainable and direct cost benefits

• Risk evaluations: supply chains; assets; operations, markets, regulation, reputation

• Climate exposure made explicit in corporate reporting

• Share adaptation information to achieve consistency

Recommendations for Government

• Present UKCP09 as ‘best available prediction’ for non-climate specialists

• Provide public information on climate risks to critical public infrastructure

• Climate Change Risk Assessment orchestrate climate adaptation across regulated sectors, the

planning process, and public infrastructure procurement

• Consistent approach across regulatory authorities to support firms to adapt public

infrastructure to long-term climate risk

LCLIP Process

• Media Search (local and national press)

• Interviews with key officers

• Collating data

• Analysing Data

• Sharing findings

Typical Outputs

Executive summary containing headline messages:

Report including:• Summary of data analysis• Case studies of significant events• Record of extreme weather events over past 5 to 10 years

Evidence of consequences for:• Agencies• Workloads• Budgets• Service delivery• Reputation• etc

Recommended next steps:• Monitoring

‘place-shaping’ agenda links to ‘localism’ agenda • Weather and climate are local phenomena

• Impacts and consequences of weather are even more local

• Local preparedness reduces local vulnerability

• People tend to identify with ’place’ rather than institutions

• Community can become involved in increasing local resilience

• Re-generation of existing neighbourhoods creates high profile

• What adaptation can be done by owner occupier? tenant?

• What adaptation can be done by private sector? business? SMEs?

• What adaptation can be done by LSP? LEP partners? Third sector?

Strategic Questions: Policy Vacuum

Policy Context: In a policy vacuum what should we do?

Possible responses

• wait until it is all sorted out• concentrate on principles which can then be applied in whatever new frameworks emerge• seek to influence policy• others

Strategic Questions: Spatial Scales

Is spatial scale a useful and significant framework ?

Possible spatial scales

• Regional (sub-regional)• Urban (conurbation)• Rural (countryside)• Neighbourhood• Individual Buildings

Are these appropriate and useful classifications ?

Any others ?

Any improvements in titles ?

Strategic Questions: target beneficiariesWho should be the audience or beneficiary of any support ?

Different outputs can be targeted to different audiences

Are planning officers to be the principal beneficiaries ?

Other beneficiaries ?

• Developers, architects, building owners, etc ?• Other officers ?• Elected members ?• Community ?

Is there any difference in requirements for unitary and district authorities ?

Strategic Questions: style and format

Is there any preferred style and format for publications ?

• Paper ?

• Electronic ?

• Web-based ?

• Other ?

Is there any preferred style and format for events, workshops, etc ?

• Venues ?

• Timing ?

• Structure ?

Strategic Questions: Content

There is a wide range of subject matter that could be coveredbut also many different ways in which subject matter can be organised and structured.

Some of the alternative approaches are presented in a worksheet.

Please work through these in small groupsindicating your preferences and any other comments.

Are there any other topics for consideration ?

or

Different ways of structuring the content ?

National Planning Policy Framework Consultation

http://communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningsystem/planningpolicy/planningpolicyframework/

The Minister has invited organisations and individuals to offer their suggestions to the Department on what priorities and policies we might adopt to produce a shorter, more decentralised and less bureaucratic National Planning Policy Framework.Please send your suggestions, by 28 February 2011, to:planningframework@communities.gsi.gov.uk orAlan ScottNational Planning Policy FrameworkDepartment for Communities and Local GovernmentZone 1/H6Eland HouseLondon SW1E 5DU

Today is the last day for responses

Next Steps

www.ukcip.org.uk