Urban Design Compendium

Case Study 015 - Local leadership to achieve sustainable suburbs

015 - One Planet Sutton / The Hackbridge Project

In December 2009 the London Borough of Sutton formally committed to becoming a One Planet Borough, adopting the One Planet Living principles championed by local environmental charity BioRegional. This means reducing CO2 emissions by 90 percent by 2025. Key to this initiative is the designation in the Planning Core Strategy (adopted in 2009) of an area around Hackbridge Station in the north of the borough to become the UKs first truly sustainable suburb.

Five sites within the Hackbridge Project area are now being developed by landowners to meet the low-carbon aspirations contained within the planning policies. Together these sites will provide over 1500 new low-carbon homes and a district centre, providing a community hub, retail centre, cafés and restaurants,GP surgery and supermarket. An integrated infrastructure implementation plan is being developed including:

• Options for a decentralised energy network
• A network of cycle and walking paths, electric car charging points, and car clubsA ‘low-carbon link’, almalgamating infrastructure from a
  number of low-carbon activities under a cycle and walking path along the river
• Flood alleviation and bio-diversity improvements along the River Wandle

A pioneer of innovative behavioural change programmes, including the award-winning Smarter Travel Sutton, the Hackbridge Programme has set up a range of community based projects covering the ten One Planet Living principles. These include:

• A Pay As You Save (PAYS) scheme providing a mixture of grants and interest-free loans for household energy efficiency measures run by B&Q
• A Greening Business Initiative funded through the European Regional Development Fund
• An extensive food growing project run by BioRegional and funded through the Big Lottery Fund
• A Low Carbon Zone – one of the first areas in London sponsored by the London Development Agency

Other Information

• Location: London Borough of Sutton
• Project Team: London Borough of Sutton
• Contact: www.sutton.gov.uk

UDC2 Section - Sowing the Seedg the Seed  

The London Borough of Sutton has adopted a bold strategy to cut CO2 emissions through ambitious low-carbon development projects and a wide range of other initiativesother initiatives.

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