Council makes plea for green Local Plan sites
Canterbury City Council is calling on landowners, land agents and developers to suggest sites that could be used to help the district meet its climate change and ecological goals as part of its forthcoming draft Local Plan.
The council is especially interested in sites that could be used to help boost and diversify the natural environment or to produce renewable energy including:
- increasing and enhancing wildlife species and habitats and their connectivity
- accessible open and green spaces including for parks, allotments, play or outdoor sports
- tree planting to take carbon out of the atmosphere, known as sequestration, and to increase connectivity between woodlands
- solar arrays, onshore wind turbines and related infrastructure that could include battery storage and hydrogen generation
Leader of Canterbury City Council, Cllr Ben Fitter-Harding, said: “The Local Plan is about so much more than building houses and roads. Through it we create jobs and secure vital services such as schools and hospitals that our people need.
“But, just as importantly, it is there to help us identify places that can contribute to the huge effort across the district to reduce carbon emissions from energy, make sure energy supplies stay secure and are not buffeted by world events, to help capture and remove carbon from the atmosphere, increase biodiversity and help our ecosystems to flourish.
“We would particularly encourage landowners and developers to put forward potential sites and to be clear about what mix of renewable energy and natural systems work could take place there in the future.”
Potential sites for protection, enhancement and renewable energy can be submitted online between now and Friday 11 March.
Submitted sites will be assessed against a number of criteria including suitability and availability for the purpose proposed.
Sites previously submitted under previous calls for sites will also be assessed for these purposes and do not need to be resubmitted.
Published: 9 February 2022