New Forest District Council ‘embarrassed’ by failure to secure BREEAM sustainability rating at Platinum Jubilee Business Park, Ringwood

A COUNCIL has been ‘embarrassed’ by the failure of its business park to achieve a green rating, which was among the conditions under which planning permission was granted .

When approval was given for the £9.5m Platinum Jubilee Business Park in Ringwood, one of the requirements was that it meet the ‘very good’ standard set by the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM).

But this was not achieved, a meeting of the council heard, and resulted in an application to drop the condition, which was debated by NFDC’s planning committee.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Malcolm Wade said: “Are we slightly in danger in accepting this that we create a precedent for developers who could say ‘we don’t need to do this standard, as we’ll get it through anyway’? Is that now a concern that we are actually lowering the bar for future developments that we should actually be protecting?”

Cllr David Hawkins added: “We are a planning authority and we expect everyone else to be on top of their game. If we’re not, how can we issue instruction to everyone else?”

Cllr Barry Rickman called the situation “difficult” and “embarrassing for members”, adding: “It is not a good look.”

He said: “I realise there is a lot of misunderstanding, probably amongst members, including me, but I do think we are where we are. I suggest we press on today, but ask for a paper to be prepared for the scrutiny committee on this subject matter for all members of the council… to get clarity.”

The world-leading certification which grades the sustainability of buildings was launched in 1990 by the Building Research Establishment to set standards for the environmental performance of commercial and multi-residential buildings.

Case officer John Fanning told the meeting: “When it was being built, unfortunately several key steps were missed out in the BREEAM process. The legislation is a very comprehensive approach to sustainability and unfortunately if those are missed you cannot achieve a BREEAM rating.”

The only way to achieve the standard, he added, would be to demolish the building and “effectively start again”.

The development has been constructed with sustainable standards in mind, the meeting heard, which included electric metering which enables live monitoring for building managers, water metering for assessment of water rates and identification of emergency leaks, PV roof panels, staff shower and changing areas, and cycle storage and external spaces.

The recommendation to remove the condition was approved by seven votes to two, with three abstentions.

A scrutiny panel will now look at the timeline and conditions that resulted in the accreditation not being possible and will consider what changes may be required to future council developments.