EIR Request - Climate Emergency Actions
Request 101002863477
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. Also to extend existing residential properties - for example in easing the restrictions on mansard roofs.
Response 08-09-2021
1. In accordance with section 6(1)(b) of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 please be advised that the council's Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan are published on the council website. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here.
2. and 3. In accordance with section 6(1)(b) of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 please be advised that details of the council's carbon emissions and energy consumption are published in the council's annual climate change public sector report. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here.
4. Anyone charging their electric vehicle does not have to pay parking charges. However this would only be during the time the vehicle is charging and the expectation is that the vehicle would be moved into a normal space should the driver still wish to park in the car park and at that time would be liable for parking charges.
5. 28 Vehicles.
6. Nil.
7. Moray Council are currently holding a public consultation on a draft Masterplan for Elgin City Centre. The vision for the draft Masterplan is "To transform Elgin City Centre into a successful, well-connected, healthy, green, attractive, inclusive and carbon conscious centre offering a variety of attractions where people of all ages and abilities shop, live, relax and do business". To achieve this, the draft Masterplan contains a number of proposals including increasing opportunities for living in the City Centre by supporting the reuse of empty and vacant buildings. To support this proposal there are funding opportunities though the Moray Growth Deal Housing Mix project and potentially through future Town Centre Regeneration funding in addition to private sector investment. The consultation responses and final Masterplan will be reported to the Planning & Regulatory Services Committee by the end of this year.
For householder applications which involve the extension of properties, the primary policy which proposals will be considered against is DP1 Development Principles. Policy DP1 seeks to ensure development is appropriate in terms of scale, character and density to the surrounding area. A high standard of design (placemaking) is a key objective of the Moray Local Development Plan 2020 (MLDP 2020). In the context of Moray, pitched roofs are a traditional architectural feature and flat roofs will generally not be supported.