Radical proposals that could change the future of development in Bracknell have been voiced at a recent council meeting on climate change.

Councils have proposed policies that would require developers to install electric vehicle (EV) charging points and install solar panels at all new builds in the area.

The radical proposals were recommended at Bracknell Forest Council’s climate change advisory panel meeting yesterday (Wednesday, November 3).

The two subjects were discussed during the panel’s previous meeting held on September 20.

READ MORE: What changes are coming for Bracknell drivers as Government sets tough electric vehicle targets

the radical changes for EV charging and solar panels were put forward by Councillor Tony Virgo (Conservative, Winkfield & Cranbourne), the panel’s chairman.

Although the panel has no official powers, it can make recommendations for the decision makers on the executive committee to adopt.

In full, the panel recommended that the executive adopt two radical policies:

  1. That Bracknell Forest legitimise legislation in the parking Standards Supplementary Document (SPD) 2016 making all new developments to be fitted with an EV charging unit or at least electric cabling to a face plate on the exterior of the building.
  2. That solar panels be installed as standard on all new builds.

Cllr Dorothy Hayes MBE (Conservative, Ascot), the executive member for the environment, said she would “take it up” with other executive members.

During the most recent meeting, councillors discuss  home heating and the effectiveness of heat pumps in homes.

In a presentation,  Kevin Gibbs, the council’s executive director for delivery, demonstrated that the council had retrofitted a total of 99 energy inefficient homes to both reduce energy costs and carbon emissions.

You can watch the meeting in full below: 

Hazel Hill, the council’s sustainable energy officer, said what the council was doing to obtain grant funding to spend on more energy efficiency projects. This work includes:

  • Encouraging homeowners to take out Flexible Home Improvement Loans
  • A ‘warm home scheme’ to connect homes to gas mains
  • Obtaining £54,000 as part of the ‘warm safe and well’ scheme, which provides subsidies for home improvements, with any works under £1,000 being fully paid for

Laura Johnson, a representative from Silva Homes, the social housing company based in Bracknell Forest, stated that Silva Homes has put in a bid for the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.

From the private sector, Nick Rogers, UK design director for Taylor Wimpey housebuilders, who described the range of energy efficiency measures being installed in new build homes, which include solar panels, triple glazed windows, installation of new boilers and waste water heat recovery systems.

READ MORE: Group in Bracknell set up to tackle 'climate crisis'

The meeting was held while the international COP26 climate change conference is running.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, abbreviated as COP26, is running in Glasgow from Sunday, October 31 to Friday, November 12.

Commenting on the conference, Councillor Toyn Virgo (Conservative, Winkfield & Cranbourne) said “It’s the third day of COP26. There has been some movement, I think, on deforestation, methane emissions and funding for poorer countries. But, of course, the real problem is fossil fuels and China and India need to do more.”