Sustainable planning, built environment and green economy

Planning can play an important role in influencing the environmental standard of developments and how Colchester as a city is set out to support sustainable travel. Buildings are also a key contributor to emissions in the city, through the energy use so it is important that existing buildings are retrofitted to reduce their energy use and new buildings built to use low carbon forms of heating and built to high energy efficiency standards.  

The green economy is also an area that will be growing in Colchester, this meaning the number of ‘green jobs’ (such as renewable energy installers) and ‘green skills’ (the knowledge and experience related to tackling climate change) that will be required to support this growth. The Council is keen to support this, including helping businesses understand how they can become greener. 

Some of the Council’s actions and projects in this theme are: 

• Creation of 3 Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs), which will provide guidance to developers on how to encourage and support active travel, biodiversity and reduction of carbon and sustainable design in new developments.  
• Delivering funding for energy efficiency measures in homes in Colchester. The Council has access to grant funding for different schemes that can help install measures in homes. Find out more here. 
• Working with partners like Colchester Institute and Essex County Council to ensure we have identified where there are green skills and jobs gaps, and explore ways we can support people to learn these green skills and be aware of green jobs that will be emerging locally.   
• Promote programmes run for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) by the Colchester Business Enterprise Agency (Colbea) and Colchester Institute that support businesses to reduce their carbon footprint