In the context of this Climate Emergency, decisions made in relation to Planning play an important role in achieving the ambitious-but-necessary target of net-zero-carbon emissions by 2030. We welcome the opportunity to comment on this Development Plan Document Scoping Report. However, we are clear that Planning in general suffers from systemic failures at national level that have taken power away from local communities and handed it to large, unaccountable developers. This response focusses on decisions that lie within Cornwall Council’s control. We will provide a supplementary response outlining the changes for which we believe Cornwall Council should lobby central government.

Cornwall Green Party welcomes the vast majority of the measures proposed by the Scoping Report; it demonstrates a clear intention to take the Climate Emergency seriously. Our response focusses far less on what is already included than on what we believe should also be considered.

However, it is imperative that Cornwall Council takes initiative to reduce the likelihood of a conflict between its climate change priorities and other material considerations by integrating the specific Planning requirements of this DPD with the broader areas that impact on Strategic Planning, especially the Cornwall Local Plan and the Local Industrial Strategy.

Our response, therefore, provides a number of cross-cutting recommendations, before detailing proposed changes to the specific areas outlined by the Scoping Report.