23 November 2021
Your questions
Further to your local authority declaring a climate emergency and setting a target for your area to be carbon neutral by 2030 please advise:
1. if you have published a plan setting out how you will achieve this target. If so please provide a link to the document
2. what reduction (if any) in your local authority's own carbon emissions so far
3. what reduction (if any) in your local authority's own energy consumption
4. What incentives you have provided (if any) for electric cars. For example, reduction in parking permits and fees
5. How much of your local authority's own vehicle fleet has been switched to electric vehicles?
6. How many new street trees (if any) you have planted in the financial year 2020/21.
7. What changes (if any) you have undertaken to ease planning restrictions to convert commercial to residential properties.
Our response
1.please reference Climate change and sustainability | Lambeth Council
Lambeth Council’s energy consumption and carbon emissions for 2018-19 were published in its 2018-19 baseline report.
2. Lambeth Council’s energy consumption and carbon emissions for 2019-20 will be set out in a forthcoming emissions report, to be published in early autumn 2021
3. please refer to question 2
4. the council have introduced charging bands for residents permits with the lowest CO2 emitting vehicles and electric vehicles paying the least amount of money. We have added a Diesel surcharge of to our parking permits and also a 50% increase on hourly tariffs for diesel vehicles parking on street.
More information on this can be found on Residents parking permit.
5. Lambeth fleet currently owns 88 vehicles and 121 leased vehicles
14 owned electric vehicles
4 Hybrid
28 leased electric vehicles
21 leased Hybrid vehicles
6. 213
7. permitted development rights are a national grant of planning permission which allows certain building works and changes of use to be carried out without having to make a planning application. The government has introduced a new permitted development right allowing changes of use from commercial, business and service uses (planning use class E) to residential (planning use class C3) which came into effect from 1 August 2021. Use Class E includes shops, financial and professional services, food and drink uses, offices, research and development, light industrial uses, some non-residential institutions and some assembly and leisure uses. The new permitted development right (known as ‘Class MA’) means that changes of use from any of these uses to residential can take place via a prior approval process rather than a planning application, unless a direction known as an Article 4 direction is made which prevents the exercise of the new right.
In order to prevent significant harms arising from the loss of the ability to regulate changes of use from Class E to Class C3 through the planning application system, Lambeth Council has made three non-immediate Article 4 directions to remove the new permitted development right in selected locations across then borough. Lambeth is currently consulting on these three article 4 directions from 2 August 2021 to 27 September 2021. If confirmed, the directions would come into force on 1 August 2022. The effect of the Article 4 Directions is to withdraw the Class MA permitted development right and to require a grant of planning permission to be obtained for Class MA development in the locations covered by the directions. Therefore, their purpose is not to prevent such development from occurring, but to allow Lambeth to determine the merits of the proposed development via a planning application.
The proposed Article 4 directions take a very targeted approach, only covering selected parts of the borough where the harm anticipated from Class MA is expected to be greatest. This means that provided the requirements and conditions of Class MA are satisfied, it will be possible to make a change of use from a Class E use to a Class C3 use through a prior approval process rather than a full planning application in those parts of the borough not covered by these Article 4 directions. Further information regarding each of the three article 4 directions can be found in Lambeth’s Article 4 Direction Cabinet Member decision report for the making of three Article 4 Directions.
There is also a Class P permitted development right which allows changes of use from storage or distribution centre (planning use class B8) to dwelling houses to (planning use class C3). Lambeth has no article 4 directions relating to this permitted development right.
Permitted development rights are a national grant of planning permission which allows certain building works and changes of use to be carried out without having to make a planning application. The government has introduced a new permitted development right allowing changes of use from commercial, business and service uses (planning use class E) to residential (planning use class C3) which came into effect from 1 August 2021. Use Class E includes shops, financial and professional services, food and drink uses, offices, research and development, light industrial uses, some non-residential institutions and some assembly and leisure uses. The new permitted development right (known as ‘Class MA’) means that changes of use from any of these uses to residential can take place via a prior approval process rather than a planning application, unless a direction known as an Article 4 direction is made which prevents the exercise of the new right.
In order to prevent significant harms arising from the loss of the ability to regulate changes of use from Class E to Class C3 through the planning application system, Lambeth Council has made three non-immediate Article 4 directions to remove the new permitted development right in selected locations across then borough. Lambeth is currently consulting on these three article 4 directions from 2 August 2021 to 27 September 2021. If confirmed, the directions would come into force on 1 August 2022. The effect of the Article 4 Directions is to withdraw the Class MA permitted development right and to require a grant of planning permission to be obtained for Class MA development in the locations covered by the directions. Therefore, their purpose is not to prevent such development from occurring, but to allow Lambeth to determine the merits of the proposed development via a planning application.
The proposed Article 4 directions take a very targeted approach, only covering selected parts of the borough where the harm anticipated from Class MA is expected to be greatest. This means that provided the requirements and conditions of Class MA are satisfied, it will be possible to make a change of use from a Class E use to a Class C3 use through a prior approval process rather than a full planning application in those parts of the borough not covered by these Article 4 directions. Further information regarding each of the three article 4 directions can be found in Lambeth’s Article 4 Direction Cabinet Member decision report for the making of three Article 4 Directions.
There is also a Class P permitted development right which allows changes of use from storage or distribution centre (planning use class B8) to dwelling houses to (planning use class C3). Lambeth has no article 4 directions relating to this permitted development right.
Permitted development rights are a national grant of planning permission which allows certain building works and changes of use to be carried out without having to make a planning application. The government has introduced a new permitted development right allowing changes of use from commercial, business and service uses (planning use class E) to residential (planning use class C3) which came into effect from 1 August 2021. Use Class E includes shops, financial and professional services, food and drink uses, offices, research and development, light industrial uses, some non-residential institutions and some assembly and leisure uses. The new permitted development right (known as ‘Class MA’) means that changes of use from any of these uses to residential can take place via a prior approval process rather than a planning application, unless a direction known as an Article 4 direction is made which prevents the exercise of the new right.
In order to prevent significant harms arising from the loss of the ability to regulate changes of use from Class E to Class C3 through the planning application system, Lambeth Council has made three non-immediate Article 4 directions to remove the new permitted development right in selected locations across then borough. Lambeth is currently consulting on these three article 4 directions from 2 August 2021 to 27 September 2021. If confirmed, the directions would come into force on 1 August 2022. The effect of the Article 4 Directions is to withdraw the Class MA permitted development right and to require a grant of planning permission to be obtained for Class MA development in the locations covered by the directions. Therefore, their purpose is not to prevent such development from occurring, but to allow Lambeth to determine the merits of the proposed development via a planning application.
The proposed Article 4 directions take a very targeted approach, only covering selected parts of the borough where the harm anticipated from Class MA is expected to be greatest. This means that provided the requirements and conditions of Class MA are satisfied, it will be possible to make a change of use from a Class E use to a Class C3 use through a prior approval process rather than a full planning application in those parts of the borough not covered by these Article 4 directions. Further information regarding each of the three article 4 directions can be found in Lambeth’s Article 4 Direction Cabinet Member decision report for the making of three Article 4 Directions.
There is also a Class P permitted development right which allows changes of use from storage or distribution centre (planning use class B8) to dwelling houses to (planning use class C3). Lambeth has no article 4 directions relating to this permitted development right.