BCP Council has been warned it could be taken to court unless enough attention is paid to the climate in its local plan. Lawyers from ClientEarth have put all 100 local authorities currently working on a new planning document on notice, threatening them with legal action unless “proper climate change plans” are produced. The charity has given the councils eight weeks to explain how they will set “evidence-based carbon reduction targets” and make them part of formal policy. In July, BCP Council declared a climate emergency, backing a pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030. One of the legal requirements of the merger of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole councils earlier this year was that a local plan covering the entire conurbation be produced by 2024. But ClientEarth said this needed to play a part in addressing the “massive shortfall” in compliant planning policy across the county, placing the council – and 99 others – on legal notice. The charity has written to councillors and planning officers from areas that are revising their local plans, reminding them of their legal responsibilities. Lawyer Sam Hunter Jones said: “There is a collective failure by local authorities across England to plan adequately for climate change. “Too often climate change is perceived to be just a national or international issue and therefore solely the responsibility of central government. “Clearly central government needs to do more, yet so many of the daily decisions around new and existing infrastructure – such as new buildings, roads and utilities – are made at the local level.” The charity said that for carbon targets to be meaningful, they needed to be incorporated in councils’ local plans. Councillor Felicity Rice, cabinet member for climate change and environment, said: “Tackling climate change is an unprecedented global challenge and one in which we all need to take responsibility for. “We encourage ClientEarth to work hard to help local authorities, including BCP Council, with their duty on the development of their local plans. “Through our climate emergency declaration, BCP Council has already made a formal commitment towards achieving the target of becoming a carbon neutral Council by 2030 and a carbon neutral region before 2050. “As part of this commitment we have agreed to the production of an action plan with quantifiable targets and actions required to achieve them. “This is a challenge that cannot be underestimated. We must look now at how we go about reversing decades of global environmental decline as a result of human activity.” The council has promised to publish a report outlining ways to tackle the issue ahead of its December meeting.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council is among 100 local authorities threatened with legal action by ClientEarth unless they include "proper" climate change proposals in their local plan. The charity has issued an eight-week deadline for the councils to set out how they will introduce evidence-based carbon reduction targets. Felicity Rice, BCP cabinet member for climate change, called on ClientEarth to work with local authorities on the inclusion of climate targets in their local plans. BCP has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030.