We support the proposals.

Where possible existing buildings should be reused. Planning policy should prioritise reuse of buildings over demolition and rebuild. There is a growing body of evidence that the ‘greenest building is one that already exists’. (Carl Elefante quoted in the Architect’s Journal Retrofirst campaign https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/the-greenest-building-is-the-one-that-already-exists and https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/join-our-retrofirst-campaign-to-make-retrofit-the-default-choice ).

The climate change section should include policies covering retrofit. This will become increasingly important as higher energy efficiency standards are required. These targets present serious challenges now and will get ever more serious during the Plan period, with both major impacts on individual buildings and townscapes, and high risks of carbon (and money) being wasted on inappropriate works.

Retrofit will be within the direct scope of the Plan (guiding planning decisions) whenever it involves works which could potentially require planning permission or listed building consent. There will be difficult decisions to be made regarding retaining traditional features which contribute positively to the heritage, character and public realm (which is part of what makes Cambridge a great place) versus changes to those buildings to improve their energy efficiency. It is important that the policies in the Plan recognise this and provide guidance on how this should be assessed, so that good decisions are made.

A high proportion of the buildings in Greater Cambridge will be of traditional solid wall construction. The Climate Change section of the Plan should quote key principles and guidance from PAS 2035 and its non-domestic counterpart PAS 2038 (and reference other freely available advice including from the STBA and IHBC as well as the Government’s own guidance to Private Sector Landlords) in sufficient detail to ensure that people dealing with all traditional buildings (not only heritage assets) have access to the appropriate advice and skills to ensure that their buildings are put in good repair, and then suitable retrofit measures are applied as appropriate. See https://stbauk.org/whole-house-approach/. This is essential to achieve the aims of the PASs and to minimise unintended consequences.