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Green Infrastructure

Information on the plan which promotes a sustainable natural environment for the Local Plan.

The Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust took the lead in the coordinating and producing of the Torbay Green Infrastructure Delivery Plan (GIDP). This was in partnership with Torbay Council and Natural England. The aim was to produce a clear strategic document to guide the delivery of a healthy green infrastructure network in Torbay over the next ten years.

The GIDP was published in April 2011. This was following an extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation exercise. It is a key evidence document for the Local Plan.

Torbay Green Infrastructure Delivery Plan

What is Green Infrastructure

Green infrastructure is a term used to refer to the living network of:

  • green spaces
  • water
  • other environmental features

This is in both urban and rural areas. It is often used in an urban context to cover benefits provided by:

  • trees
  • parks
  • gardens
  • road verges
  • allotments
  • cemeteries
  • woodlands
  • rivers
  • wetlands

Green infrastructure is also relevant in a rural context. It might refer to the use of farmland, woodland, wetlands or other natural features. It can provide services such as:

  • flood protection
  • carbon storage
  • water purification

Green infrastructure maintains critical ecological links between town and country.

Around the country local partnerships are seeking to use green infrastructure to:

  • drive economic growth and regeneration
  • improve public health, wellbeing and quality of life

It can also support biodiversity and the functioning of natural systems. This includes rivers and flood plains. They help reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

Natural Environment White Paper, 2011

Planning Application Requirements

You should include a Green Infrastructure Statement with your planning application if:

  • green infrastructure assets are likely to be affected
  • there is an opportunity to provide new green infrastructure to support existing networks

This is likely to apply to:

  • most major built development proposals
  • some major changes of use
  • some minor build development proposals

What you should provide

  1. A plan

This should show:

  • existing green infrastructure assets on and next to the proposed development site
  • green infrastructure constraints
  • opportunities for the proposed development

You should refer to the maps within the plan when considering existing green infrastructure assets and opportunities.

  1. A statement

Detail the way in which you have incorporated green infrastructure into the proposed development layout. Draw on the constraints and opportunities information above. The statement should explain how the proposed green infrastructure assets in the development layout link to the wider green infrastructure network. This statement could follow the identified themes within the Torbay Green Infrastructure Delivery Plan:

  • Recreation
  • Travel and Health
  • Biodiversity and Landscape
  • Local Food
  • Climate Change Mitigation
  • Water Quality
  1. The final development layout

Show the proposed green infrastructure to be incorporated into the development proposals.

You can incorporate the Green Infrastructure Statement into the Design and Access Statement or Planning Statement/Planning Policy Statement.