‘Take climate change seriously’ rap for planners
‘ANGRY councillors have ordered planning bosses to start ‘taking climate change seriously’ after officers backed proposals for a new multi-storey car park.
A new 315-space car park near Stockport town centre has been recommended for approval, despite proposals only including 17 charging points for electric vehicles.
The new facility would serve Kingsgate House, on Wellington Road North home to an NHS outpatients clinic - as well as the offices of several firms.
It would boast four levels and more than double available parking at the site from 150 to 316 spaces, with 12 additional covered cycle bays.
A council report said NHS visitors often cannot find parking on site, causing them ‘significant distress,’ while office workers parking off-site, has a ‘detrimental impact’ on residents of Parsonage Street and Wyatt Street.
However Stockport council declared a ‘climate emergency’ in March 2019, resulting in the ‘Climate Action Now’ (CAN) document. This says mitigating environmental impacts should be at the heart of the council’s decision making.
And members of Stockport Central area committee were not impressed when the plans, submitted by North West Portfolio (No. 3) Ltd, went before them on Thursday evening.
Coun Philip Harding was clearly angry that the proposal had been recommended by officers in its current form.
He said: “I really do think the planning department in Stockport needs to take climate change seriously. And they clearly don’t at the moment otherwise they would not come forward with a planning application for 17 only out of 315.
“Every time we get an application for some kind of parking provision as part of an application we always get a derisory amount of actual electric car parking spaces - and it is not good enough.
“Neither is it good enough to not take into account climate change.”
And he slammed as ‘quite farcical’ the suggestion planning permission should be granted for a scheme with such a low proportion of charging points.
Coun Sheila Bailey reminded the committee that the CAN document committed the council to including climate change assessments in all decision making processes.
And she noted that by doubling the number of parking spaces, it stood to reason the number of car journeys to and from Kingsgate House would also increase.
“Therefore, if you are going to be serious about climate change and the impact it has - and is having and will continue to have - you do really have to adhere to the strategy that has been agreed by this council,” she said.
Coun Bailey - who oversaw the CAN document as part of her cabinet role - said if officers were aware of the strategy it was time they started implementing it.
“We really have to take action and not just agree documents, is basically what I’m saying,” she added.
Councillor Matt Wynne said he had ‘grave concerns’ over the site given the ‘near illegal levels’ of air pollution close by.
He described the air quality assessment submitted by the applicant as indecipherable and questioned its finding that the impact on pollution would be ‘negligible.’
He told the committee he would need to see more details and a ‘more compact’ air quality assessment before he could give a recommendation.
The committee did not make a recommendation but asked that further information on climate impact be presented to the planning and highways committee, which will decide on the application.