Council promotes sustainable design in the Highlands

The Highland Council has today (Monday) added a Sustainable Design Guide to its growing suite of Interim Supplementary Guidance which supports the forthcoming Highland wide Local Development Plan. This new guide replaces the Designing for Sustainability in the Highlands (2006) guidance note, and reaffirms the Planning and Development Service’s long-standing commitment to helping deliver sustainably-designed and constructed buildings throughout the Highland Council area.

Councillor Ian Ross, Chairman of the Council’s Planning Environment and Development Committee said: “The Sustainable Design Guide has been produced to promote and encourage high quality and sustainably-designed buildings throughout the Highland area which will minimise impacts on the natural environment, help counter the effects of climate change and promote a greater use of local and renewable materials.  The key sustainable design topics in the Guide are summarised in a practical Sustainable Design checklist which all potential developers and architects can use to prepare a Sustainable Design Statement to accompany their planning application.  

“Taking a sustainable approach to design makes sound business sense for developers and provide financial benefits to the occupiers and users of buildings.  For example, appropriate siting and passive design measures can make the most of the available daylight and add little or nothing to the capital cost of a development, but can help reduce the cost of heating and lighting the buildings”.

The new Sustainable Design Guide: Interim Supplementary Guidance can be found on the Highland Council website:

/yourenvironment/planning/developmentplans/developmentplanpolicyguidance/