Local authorities should use planning powers to boost low carbon economy, says think-tank

The group's report (37-page / 570KB PDF) said that such action would help prevent the UK falling behind other countries in efforts to create jobs and growth from low carbon technology and services.

The report said that local authorities should take advantage of the new powers conferred on them by the Localism Act to encourage growth.

"With localism high on the political agenda, and having been awarded a ‘general power of competence’ to do anything that isn’t illegal, this is an area where city and local authorities can innovate, using all the powers and levers at their disposal" said the report.

The report said that local authorities could achieve this aim through the use of development control and by imposing robust low-carbon requirements in their planning policies. They could bring forward the requirement that all new homes should be zero carbon to a date earlier than the current central Government target date of 2016, it said. They could also increase the demands for on-site renewable energy generation imposed on new development, it said.

The report said that the New Homes Bonus should be amended so that additional bonus money is paid for homes that are developed to a certain environmental standard. "This bonus should be set at a level that counteracts the extra costs faced by developers when building to higher environmental standards" said the report.

The report praised Government proposals to apply the business rate retention scheme to renewable energy developments.