Climate change adaptation scale - building/development integrated climate change adaptation

You could include building and development related policies in your core strategies, but it might also be appropriate to include them in Area Action Plans or other development plan documents. It will be useful if you supported your policies with appropriate supplementary planning documents and guidance.

High temperatures. Your policy will need to reflect the latest climate projections (UKCP09) and consider how it can influence developments. You thinking should include:

Using small-scale green and blue spaces, such as pocket parks, gardens and green roofs, which are important in managing the micro-climate. These should be considered as part of strategic green infrastructure strategies.
Requirements for large street trees, green walls and shading
Shading and orientation of streets and buildings to minimise direct summer sunlight and promote breeze corridors while not restricting winter sun.
Promotion of appropriate building materials, shading, passive and mechanical cooling, thermal mass, ventilation. The Code for Sustainable Homes refers to overheating to some extent but temperature hotspots may require more specification through planning policy and guidance.

See AD1 Managing high temperatures for more detail.

Flooding and sea level rise. When thinking about these issues, your policy should consider:

Locating development away from flood zones
Flood resistant specifications for buildings, including flood resistant materials and non-return drainage valves
Green roofs and open spaces to reduce runoff
Avoidance of impermeable surfaces, including driveways
Flood defences, including renaturalisation of water ways to increase flood storage
Removing pinchpoints in flood pathways
Increasing drainage capacity by widening drains

See AD2 Managing flood risk for more detail.

Water availability and quality. Here, your policy will need to consider how changes in rainfall patterns will affect water in the future. Your policy should consider:

Rainwater harvesting and storage from roofs and streets
Sustainable drainage, considered at the site or building scale but set within the context of strategic systems
Greywater recycling
Management of point source pollution to reduce risks to water quality
Specification of xeriscaping (low water use planting)
Water efficient fixtures and fittings

See AD3 Managing water availability and quality for more detail.

Land stability. Your policy around land stability will be determined largely by soil types. Based on the evidence base, policy should consider:

Designating severely unstable sites as unsuitable for development
Structural change and improvement in external surface protection, such as vegetation
Vegetation management and choice of planting to avoid building subsidence
Re-grading or reinforcing of slopes
Better and stronger foundations that extend below the zone that might be affected by seasonal changes in moisture content

See AD4 Managing ground conditions for more details.

As part of wider strategic policy-making, development level policies should consider the type of green and blue infrastructure needed to provide appropriate habitats, bearing in mind likely future species movement