Southwark Climate Day
2021 conference questions
In this section, you can read questions and answers on:
Housing
Will Southwark Council ensure that all new buildings are equipped with heat exchange pumps?
The council is working hard to ensure that more sustainable heat sources are used for new homes, and the aim is that all new buildings are equipped when possible. As part of the Southwark Plan 2022 (due to be adopted in February 2022), the council sets out a carbon reduction target of 100% for major residential schemes and 40% carbon reduction onsite for major non-residential schemes.
To achieve these targets, new developments will need to use more sustainable heat sources such as air source heat pumps and heat exchange pumps, which will deliver higher carbon savings over gas boilers.
Will Southwark ensure that when new buildings have to be constructed instead of re-purposing existing buildings, concrete that contains graphene is used?
Southwark supports both new builds and the re-purposing of existing buildings, depending on the scale and purpose of the development. The council aims to reuse buildings where there are existing benefits from retaining the building for aesthetic and carbon reasons.
There are currently no specific requirements for use of concrete containing graphene in planning policy. The council does however support sustainable construction and the use of sustainable materials in the construction of new developments as part of the Southwark Plan Sustainability Standards policy, which includes requirements to reach BREEAM Excellent.
Does Southwark Planning Dept. have noise standards for air source heat pumps and can they enforce these as the fans age and become as noisy as most air conditioning units?
There are currently no noise standards for air source heat pumps. This is something that can be considered for future guidance as more schemes make use of air source heat pumps.
Transport
Will Southwark council speed up road works to cut down traffic emissions while waiting in long queues?
The council carries out repairs to the public highway as fast as possible using funding available from government and TfL. Much of the works on the public highway are by private utility companies. More could be done to coordinate these companies to minimise disruption, however, this would require government action to give powers to councils to do this. We work hard to ensure our road networks are managed effectively to support our communities and their movement, improve safety, minimise congestion, and disruption to all traffic, including pedestrians and vulnerable road users.
Are we going to see more electric car charging points on public parking spaces?
The short answer is yes. We currently have over 300 on street lamp column EV chargers for residents. We will continue to ensure that charging infrastructure is in proportion with ownership in the borough and kerbside efficiency.
TfL’s draft electric vehicle strategy 2030 forecasts the need for further charge points across London, expecting 20 to 30% of rapid chargers to be delivered by the public sector and 70 to 80% by the private sector.
How much do councils work together to ensure that residents from different councils have needs met regarding air health, pedestrian safety and road safety?
The council works across boundaries with neighbouring local authorities as well as with TfL, the police and other emergency services in order to achieve the best outcomes for residents. We have some key schemes, which aim to improve road safety, improve air quality and encourage active travel such as along the Old Kent Road, Lower Road and The Cut that involve cross borough working.
We're also members of transport, road safety and air quality working groups across London, which promote and enable sharing of best practise, ideas and efficiencies.
Biodiversity
Are there any small Southwark grants available for building neighbourhood, green spaces to love nature?
Yes, the council runs the Cleaner Greener Safer fund every year. This is open to residents and community groups in Southwark. The GLA has a range of funding available for greening London.
Could work be done to remove old concrete from land areas to reduce flooding and help create a more biodiverse environment?
Yes, areas will need to be identified. As part of the flood risk strategy work has been undertaken to create rain gardens and sustainable drainage on our streets. The Low Line project in the north of the borough is seeking to create new green infrastructure including closing roads.
How will the 10% net biodiversity gain rules be implemented?
Local authorities are waiting for guidance and support from the government. We have until winter 2023 to prepare for biodiversity net gain and other requirements of the Environment Act. There is a shortage of specialists in local government to meet these requirements. We're waiting to hear about the provision of resources promised.
Who runs the courses you offer at the garden if you're volunteer-led?
Walworth Garden and Bankside Open Spaces Trust in partnership with Better Bankside offer gardening courses. The Centre for Wildlife Gardening in Peckham is run by London Wildlife Trust. This has a series of demonstration gardens and runs courses on wildlife gardening.
Will Southwark address the issue of light pollution caused by street lighting and tower blocks especially those built overlooking Nature Reserves?
The design of road lighting is covered by legislation, which recognises that designers should take into account the impacts on ecology, flora and fauna. The council follows this legislation as part of its procurement and takes the impact on our environment as a factor when receiving lighting complaints. The council is currently undertaking a borough wide accelerated LED upgrade scheme and plan to have all street lighting upgraded to LED within two years. This will greatly benefit the environment by utilising LED technology. Where lighting causes problems, the council works to try to reduce the issue where possible.
Consumption
How are urban farmers or entrepreneurs supported by the council?
We do not have any business support programmes specifically for urban farmers, however, we do offer business support which Southwark-based urban farmers may be eligible for, such as the Business Resilience Support Programme and the Southwark Pioneers Fund (launching in 2022).
Information about all business support can be found on our webpages and businesses can sign up for our e-newsletter to stay up to date (email our business desk to sign up). Additionally, the council has community gardening coordinators who work with local residents to grow more food locally, as well as an allotment expansion scheme across the borough.
Is there anything that Southwark can do to boost circular resource efficiency in the area for businesses?
As part of our commitment to a Green New Deal, we're currently assessing our data to understand how green our economy currently is. The next step will be to explore where we can have an impact and what sort of actions we could take to boost circular resource efficiency and help make our economy greener.
Supporting businesses to become more environmentally friendly and help reduce carbon emissions will be one aspect of our approach. However, we'll also explore other ways in which we can help green the economy. We're currently consulting on the development of our new economic strategy, and how to green our economy is one of the aspects we are seeking to engage on. Any suggestions are welcome!
Clearly, a good BID is the way forward for engaging businesses. What is Southwark doing to encourage further BIDs around the borough? Such as around Peckham?
There are no current plans for additional BIDs in the borough. However, the council continues to work closely with existing BIDs, while also extending its efforts to engage with local businesses.
Work is underway to develop a sustainable business forum for Peckham. The partnership will be built around the principles of the Southwark Stands Together (SST) strategy, ensuring engagement with traders of all backgrounds. Locally based business connectors will be used to develop a strong network, whilst also offering business support and mentoring with a choice of business advisors who know the area.
Work is also underway to improve the environment of Rye Lane. Improving the local environment, in partnership with our traders, will provide a strong platform to further identify areas where businesses can contribute to the climate agenda.
Furthermore, through the High Street Recovery Fund the council is match funding the creation of a new £50k enterprise hub called the Deft. Space on Rye Lane with London South Bank University (LSBU) and a locally based architecture practice. The hub will provide a perfect platform for business engagement, as well as offer a wider cultural programme for the whole community. Additionally, the council has also supported the creation of a new business forum for Elephant and Castle.
Approach
Is the council also supporting the schools and college buildings with being carbon neutral?
The council has confirmed that it will look at signing up Southwark schools to the ‘Let’s Go Zero’ campaign. Let’s Go Zero is a national campaign for teachers, pupils, parents and their schools. Run by the environmental charity Ashden, the programme aims to help schools commit to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 by providing practical support and resources, as well as a space to share best practice amongst schools. 800 schools are already signed up, including schools in Southwark.
As part of our work on Let’s Go Zero, the council will develop a school’s network on carbon reduction to discuss how schools could work locally to work towards their climate goals, and share learning.
Rather than debating individual ideas ad nauseam, how about a more strategic approach of what's causing the most CO2 among residents and the council - and then matching the biggest hitters to the most impactful interventions?
Following feedback, the council will be updating its Climate Change Action Plan to hold it to more stringent and time-bound actions. These will further our strategic approach to tackling the biggest emitters of carbon and will allow us to better prioritise specific interventions that have the greatest impact.
There is clearly lots of interest in these topics - can we make this more than just an annual event to allow greater/ongoing discussion? Could we have another event in February once the Citizen's Jury's recommendations are published, to discuss their implementation/next steps?
The council is looking at other public engagement events that it may want to hold alongside the annual conference. We're keen that the Jury’s recommendations are shared widely with residents and we continue to engage with those involved in the Jury long term.
Page last updated: 04 April 2023
