Just weeks into the new government and we have seen significant changes to planning policy for renewables, positive changes that have already been reflected in decision-making at MHCLG. Local level decision-making will need to follow the lead, creating opportunities across the country.

Labour’s Manifesto pledge to ‘make Britain a clean energy superpower’ is well underway, with a raft of positive interventions announced, including:

• Lifting the de facto ban on new onshore wind development in England.
• Launching publicly owned Great British Energy, backed by a bill in Parliament and £8.3 billion.
• Announcing a partnership between Great British Energy and the Crown Estate to support new offshore energy generation in England and Wales.
• Establishing a private sector-led Onshore Wind Taskforce and Reactivating the Solar Taskforce.

The government is now consulting on a revised NPPF that includes the following proposed amendments in support of renewable energy generation.

Support for proposals

The most significant amendment stipulates that local planning authorities (LPAs) will be required to support planning applications for all forms of renewable and low carbon energy development.

Significant weight to benefits

LPAs will be required to “give significant weight to a proposal’s contribution to renewable energy generation and a net zero future”.

Areas suitable for energy infrastructure

LPAs will be required to “identify”, rather than “consider identifying”, “suitable areas for renewable and low carbon energy sources and supporting infrastructure, where this would help secure their development”.

Onshore wind

A significant amendment removes the requirement for new commercial-scale onshore wind projects to be located within “suitable areas” (as defined in local plans). The requirement for “community support” has also been removed. The Community Benefits Protocol is set to be updated by the government imminently

Green Belt / Grey Belt

The introduction of paragraph 152 states that “housing, commercial and other development [e.g. renewable and low carbon energy development] in the Green Belt should not be regarded as inappropriate” where “a) the development would utilise grey belt land in sustainable locations, the contributions set out in Paragraph 155 are provided, and the development would not fundamentally undermine the function of the Green Belt across the area of the plan as a whole; and b) there is a demonstrable need for land to be released for development of local, regional or national importance”.

This implies that if land can be shown to meet the relevant tests, the requirement to demonstrate ‘very special circumstances’ for development within the Green Belt would not apply.

Repowering and life extension

An amendment related to repowering or life extension would still require
“significant weight to be applied to the benefits of utilising an established site”, but the requirement to only approve an application if its impacts are (or can be made) acceptable would be removed.

Agricultural land

Reference to the requirement to consider the “availability of agricultural land for food production” when deciding on sites most appropriate for development has been removed.

The Secretary of State recently overturned the Sunnica Energy Farm Development Consent Order application decision (a 500MW solar generation station and battery energy storage system), concluding that the public benefit of meeting the urgent need for low carbon energy production outweighed the temporary loss of food production.

Thresholds for NSIPs

The NPPF consultation also sets out the following proposed thresholds upon which renewable and low carbon energy generation projects could be considered as a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP):

• Onshore wind – introducing a threshold of 100MW
• Solar – raising the threshold from 50MW to 150MW

Projects which meet these thresholds would be required to submit a planning application for a Development Consent Order, rather than through the relevant LPA.

Next steps

tor&co has provided planning, environmental planning, landscape, heritage and strategic communications solutions to the renewable energy sector since 1992. We serve a wide range of clients including utility companies, renewable energy developers, landowners, the public sector and the investment industry.

If you would like to discuss how these proposed changes could affect your proposals, please contact Amar Benkreira for a no-obligation discussion.

amar.benkreira@torandco.com
07897599344

The first Labour government in 14 years is determined to make its mark and they have begun their tenure by stating that planning reform will be key to delivering their economic growth objectives. With bold promises to deal with a chronic housing shortfall, the newly published NPPF consultation is the government’s solution to the current crisis. It also positively supports economic growth in key sectors and provides a boost for clean energy and the environment, particularly through support for onshore wind and renewables. This note provides a summary of the main changes to the NPPF that have been published for consultation until 24 September 2024, together with some commentary.

Housing

As expected, the reference to the housing target being ‘an advisory starting point’ has been removed, requiring local planning authorities (LPAs) to plan for their identified housing need. The requirement for LPAs to demonstrate a minimum of five years rolling supply of deliverable housing sites is to be restored alongside the 5% buffer to ensure choice and competition in the market. The requirement for a 20% buffer where there has been significant under delivery of housing over the previous three years (less than 85%) has been retained. The previous requirement for a 35% “urban uplift” for the 20 largest urban areas has been abandoned.

Most significantly, there is a revised standard method for calculating housing need, resulting in an annual housing target of just over 370,000 new homes a year (an increase of over 20%) which is designed to boost need in those areas where housing is least affordable. This means that the vast majority of LPAs (circa 90%) are going to see an increase in their local housing requirements, and over two thirds of authorities will see their requirements increase by over 200 homes a year.

The presumption in favour of sustainable development has been tweaked to allow the ‘tilted balance’ to be engaged if ‘policies for the supply of land’ (rather than the “most important” policies) are ‘out-of-date’, which is helpful in terms of providing greater clarity. Policies are considered out-of-date where a five-year supply (with the appropriate buffer) cannot be demonstrated, or where less than 75% of the annual requirement has been delivered over the previous three years. But, by specifically highlighting the location and design of development and the provision of affordable homes as part of the planning balance, have LPAs been given a greater opportunity not to apply the presumption in favour?

Green Belt

The requirement for LPAs to review Green Belt boundaries if they cannot meet their identified housing need has been restored. This need must be met ‘in full’, unless there is clear evidence that such alterations would fundamentally undermine the function of the Green Belt across the area of the plan ‘as a whole’. This appears to be a high bar and represents a clear signal from government that LPAs should plan accordingly when preparing local plans.

Exceptional circumstances are still required to be demonstrated, but the proposed changes helpfully clarify that an authority’s inability to meet its identified need for housing, commercial or other development through other means is included within such circumstances. This, combined with the revised standard method for calculating local housing need, will certainly see more Green Belt land coming forward for housing development.

When releasing land from the Green Belt, consideration should first be given to previously developed land in sustainable locations and then ‘Grey Belt’ land (see below) in sustainable locations before other sustainable Green Belt locations.
Land released from the Green Belt will be required to provide 50% affordable homes (subject to viability) including a proportion of social rent, necessary improvements to local or national infrastructure and the provision of new (or improvements to existing) green spaces that are accessible to the public.

Green Belt land released for commercial and other development will need to provide the necessary improvements to local and national infrastructure and new, or improvements to existing, green spaces that are accessible to the public.

In respect of the delivery of 50% affordable housing, viability is likely to be a crucial issue. Annex 4 of the document certainly raises some questions. The update is seeking to formalise a process to establish a benchmark land value for Green Belt sites which includes a “reasonable and proportionate premium”, which of course is different to “the minimum return at which a reasonable landowner would be willing to sell their land” defined by the current PPG. The proposed BLV is currently left blank, but this has the potential to set a value for Green Belt land which is below that of other land, which could inadvertently create a two tier land market and impact upon housing delivery. The draft text also introduces late stage reviews for schemes which cannot deliver 50% affordable housing, which can make obtaining funding to deliver projects more challenging.

Grey Belt

The much talked about ‘Grey Belt’ has been defined as ‘land in the green belt comprising previously developed land and any other parcels and/or areas of Green Belt land that make a limited contribution to the five Green Belt purposes (but excluding those areas or assets with particular importance).’

Arguably the most significant proposed change to green belt policy, however, is that development on Grey Belt land that can deliver affordable housing, green spaces and necessary improvements to infrastructure should NOT be regarded as ‘inappropriate development’ where local planning authorities cannot demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites or where the delivery of housing is below 75% of the housing requirement over the previous three years. This removes the need for ‘very special circumstances’ to be demonstrated and will therefore allow for more speculative development opportunities in the Green Belt.

Transitional arrangements

The new NPPF will be material when determining planning applications from the date of its publication. For plan-making, however, plans that are at Regulation 19 stage or beyond within one month of the NPPF being published (the government has separately stated that they hope this will be in late 2024) may not be required to accord with the proposed changes and may be examined against the December 2023 version of the NPPF. The decision hinges on whether the plan’s annual housing requirement is more than 200 dwellings less than the published relevant local housing need figure, as set out by the standard method.

Renewable and low carbon energy

Very positively, the proposed amendments state that LPAs should support planning applications for all forms of renewable and low carbon development and give significant weight to the proposal’s contribution to renewable energy generation and a net zero future.

To help increase the use and supply of renewable and low carbon energy and heat, the proposed NPPF also states that LPAs must now identify suitable areas for renewable and low carbon energy sources and supporting infrastructure in plans, where currently they only need to ‘consider’ identifying such sites. Allocating sites will greatly assist in securing approval for renewable / low carbon projects.

Through parallel consultation on other proposed changes to the planning system, the government is also seeking to re-integrate onshore wind into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime. It is proposing to set the threshold at which onshore wind projects are determined as nationally significant at 100 megawatts (MW) and to increase the same threshold for solar projects to 150 MW (up from 50 MW). The overall aim of these changes is for projects to follow a proportionate and efficient process to securing consent.

A limited return of strategic planning

Whilst the proposed changes to the NPPF maintain the existing duty to cooperate requirement amongst neighbouring authorities, the wording has been further strengthened. Notably, paragraph 27 outlines that policy-making authorities should make sure that their plan policies are consistent with those of other bodies. The ministerial statement published with the NPPF makes clear that the direction of travel is to return to strategic planning, stating that planning for growth needs to go beyond the local level and that it will be necessary to introduce effective new mechanisms for cross-boundary strategic planning to enable universal coverage which will be formalised in new legislation.

Commercial

Building on the existing wording, the proposed changes to the NPPF specify the need for planning policies to make provision for appropriate sites to support commercial development which meet the needs of a modern economy, including suitable locations for uses such as data centres, digital infrastructure, gigafactories, laboratories, freight and logistics, all of which are seen as critical to economic growth.

The proposed NPPF also highlights the need for planning policies and decisions to make provision for new, expanded or upgraded facilities and infrastructure that are needed to support the growth of data-driven, creative and high technology industries (including data centres and grid connections). With regard to storage and distribution operations, the proposed NPPF highlights that policies and decisions must allow for the efficient and reliable handling of goods, especially where this is needed to support the supply chain, transport innovation and decarbonisation. The expansion or modernisation of other industries of local, regional or national importance to support economic growth and resilience must also be recognised in policy and decisions.

In assessing sites that may be allocated for development in plans, or specific applications for development, it is proposed that a vision led approach to promoting sustainable transport modes will be required.

With regard to public service infrastructure (i.e. further education colleges, hospitals, criminal justice accommodation), the proposed NPPF states that significant weight should be placed on the importance of new, expanded or upgraded public service infrastructure when considering proposals for development.

The disappearance of “beautiful”

Finally, the controversial references to “beautiful” buildings and places introduced by Michael Gove are largely proposed to be removed from the NPPF, albeit paragraph 128 still refers to the ‘creation of high quality, beautiful and sustainable buildings’ so it hasn’t disappeared entirely – for now!!

Next steps

The proposed changes to the NPPF are the first stage of the much promised planning reforms that the new government announced in the King’s Speech. The government will respond to consultation comments and prepare a revised NPPF before the end of the year. These changes will be followed by further reforms to be set out in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, as well as a commitment to introduce a universal system of strategic planning across England.

The introduction of mandatory housing requirements, the revised standard method and the proposed changes to Green Belt policy all represent significant changes in national policy. They will undoubtedly have ramifications for all local authorities preparing local plans, but they will also start to affect decision-making towards the end of the year. It is considered that the proposed NPPF text also provides vital support for commercial economic growth and clean energy, which will also start to impact positively in 2025.

tor&co has a large team of planning and environmental planning consultants working on both small and large projects in all sectors across the UK. If you would like to discuss how these proposed changes could affect your proposals, please contact us for a no-obligation discussion.

tor&co has secured full planning permission for the transformation of the iconic former Beales department store in Bournemouth into a vibrant mixed-use scheme.

This project will create:

• 130 new residential flats
• 3 hybrid-use commercial units across basement and first floor
• A gym and swimming pool across basement to upper ground floor
• 42 parking spaces on subterranean levels, accessed by two car lifts 

tor&co provided a comprehensive range of services for the private client, including architecture, planning, heritage, landscape architecture, and viability expertise. 

We worked collaboratively with BCP Council and consultees to navigate the complex constraints including the close proximity to multiple designated and non-designated heritage assets, including the grade I listed St Peter’s Church.

The consented scheme retains the existing building’s core structure and introduces many design features which nod to the historic design. The development was praised by the case officer for its efforts to preserve the non-designated heritage asset.

This development will not only help to address Bournemouth’s significant housing need but also revitalise the building through the re-instatement of commercial uses at ground floor, animating the building throughout the daytime and into the evening.  The substantial public benefits were considered by officers to outweigh the harm identified to heritage assets.

Graduate Landscape Architect or Year out Graduate Landscape Architect

Location: Birmingham or Bournemouth

Are you at the beginning of your career as a Landscape Architect?  Are you ambitious and creative and looking for a new challenge? Are you passionate about being part of the process to unlocking the full potential of a site with design solutions that respect the surrounding landscape / townscape?

About you:

• Recently completed BA or BSc in Landscape Architecture
• One year of practice experience delivering projects desirable
• Technical knowledge in both soft and hard landscaping
• Strong graphic, design, drawing, sketching and written skills
• Strong writing and communication skills – we require: GCSE English language minimum Grade 6 or equivalent
• Full UK driving licence desirable
• Strong attention to detail with a methodical approach. 
• Good time management and organisational skills to complete work to tight deadlines
• Good interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team
• Self-motivated, able to work independently and take the initiative and have a pro-active approach
• Flexible attitude and willingness to travel (within the UK)
• Be enthusiastic, conscientious, open-minded, resilient, agreeable, balanced with a can do attitude
• An ability to work effectively under pressure while remaining professional at all times
• A desire to further your career through the Pathway to Chartership
• Technology: Some experience in VectorWorks and or AutoCAD, Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, MS365 is desirable
• Right to work in the UK without sponsorship

The role

Assistant landscape architects are expected to be conscientious and demonstrate a keenness to learn and develop skills conducive to a highly productive and successful design team. They are expected to contribute to the landscape architecture team and wider company as a whole. They are expected to contribute by supporting senior members in a range of tasks including site visits, research and analysis and the preparation of drawings including: hand drawn sketches, concept and technical drawings and technical documents including but not exclusive to landscape appraisal and Landscape and Visual Impact assessment and preparation of presentation materials and reviewing relevant local, regional and national planning policies, and research into project specific landscape architecture issues. Senior staff will provide a nurturing environment to support your career development.

On offer:

• A competitive salary and benefits package
• 8% Employer Pension Scheme
• Life insurance
• 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 days with length of service)
• Paid bank holidays
• Benefits platform – including cycle to work scheme
• CPD opportunities and a dynamic office environment
• tor&co is a SBTi validated net zero company

To apply

Please send your cover letter, CV and up to 3 sides of A3 design examples and 1 x written report of your recent work of your choice to enquiries@torandco.com

Further information about the company can be found on our website, www.torandco.com to view/ download our landscape capability statement please visit https://www.torandco.com/expertise/#our_expertise

Deadline: Response required by 28^th July 2024

Are you an ambitious and creative landscape architect looking for a new challenge? Are you passionate about unlocking the full potential of a site with design solutions that respect the surrounding landscape / townscape?

Employer details

This is an exciting opportunity to join a team of landscape architects within an inter-disciplinary design, environmental and planning practice. While we understand the value of the aesthetic, our landscape team know that how a space makes people feel, emotionally and physically, is the key to unlocking the full potential of a site. This focus ensures that our proposals are creative and sympathetic, so that we promote positive co-existence between people, place and planet. We operate throughout the UK, with offices in London, Birmingham and Bournemouth. We embrace challenges from large, complex and demanding schemes, to the small and soon to be perfectly formed with equal enthusiasm, commitment and creativity.

About you

We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic Senior Landscape Architect to join our expanding landscape architectural team in our Birmingham or Bournemouth office. The successful candidate will support and assist the team on our exciting and varied project portfolio across all RIBA phases and a broad range of sectors. The successful candidate will therefore have growing expertise across all areas of landscape architecture including design, landscape planning and assessment.

Skills, abilities and qualifications

• CMLI

• Proven track record in Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments and their application

• Creative interest in green infrastructure and environmental design and management

• An understanding of procedures and guidance relating to the preparation of visualisations desirable

• Knowledge of ecologically driven design and or biodiversity net gain assessments desirable

• Strong graphic, design, drawing, sketching and written skills

• An eye for detail and methodical approach to work

• Working knowledge of National Building Specification would be preferable.

• Good time management, organisational skills, ability to work effectively under pressure and team working

• Self-motivated and able to work independently

• Exellent communication skills – verbal and written

• A keenness to expand their knowledge and skill sets

• Able to demonstrate initiative and a proactive approach to daily tasks

• Good interpersonal skills and ability to liaise effectively – an ability to assist and support more senior team members

• Full UK driving licence, willing to travel (within the UK) and work across projects and disciplines (architecture/ urban design) in a variety of capacities

• Proficient IT skills in:

– Vectorworks and or AutoCAD

– Adobe InDesign

– Adobe Illustrator

– MS 365: Excel, Word and Powerpoint

• Right to work in the UK without sponsorship

The role

Senior Landscape Architects at tor&co are expected to play an active role in the day to day running of projects, input towards both the design direction of projects and contribute to the strategic aims of tor&co. They will be expected to demonstrate their design flair and their aptitude to undertake a range of tasks using the above skills/ knowledge and strong interpersonal skills. They will also support junior members of the landscape team during their professional development. Senior landscape architects will have membership of or submitted application for chartered membership of the Landscape Institute.

Benefits

We offer a very competitive salary, 8% employer contribution pension scheme, life insurance, 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 days with length of service), paid public holidays, hybrid working – home/ office, cycle to work scheme, private health insurance, CPD opportunities and a dynamic office environment.

To apply

Please send your cover letter, CV and up to 3 sides of A3 design examples and 1 x written report of your recent work of your choice to enquiries@torandco.com

For further information and to view/ download our landscape capability statement please visit https://www.torandco.com/expertise/#our_expertise

Deadline:  Response required by 28th July 2024

Urban designer Jon Reynolds and planners Jack Higson and Harvey Wingfield are all celebrating promotions this week.

Jon has been promoted to Associate Director. He has been with tor&co since 2022 and is a chartered landscape architect as well as an urban designer. He has been working on masterplanning and urban design projects, ranging from large UK strategic schemes, through to smaller residential developments.

Jack and Harvey are now Senior Planners and have made significant contributions to the team since joining in 2021. Jack is a key member of our team working with Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and has been involved in achieving a number of recent planning consents, whilst Harvey has played a pivotal role in securing permission for a substantial 19,000m² extension to DS Smith plc’s packaging facility in Fordham, East Cambridgeshire.

An appeal on behalf of Blenheim Estate against West Oxfordshire DC’s refusal of a hybrid application for new housing on an allocated site in Woodstock has been allowed, together with a partial costs award.

Represented by Sarah Reid KC and presenting tor&co’s planning, landscape and heritage evidence, the team were able to demonstrate that the proposal presents a high quality and well-integrated extension of the town, creating a safe and connected community.      

The Inspector agreed that any harm to the setting of the Blenheim Palace World Heritage Site and RPG was minor in magnitude, that the effect on the landscape character and setting of Woodstock would be no greater than minor adverse and that these harms were far outweighed by the substantial benefit of delivering 180 market, affordable and custom build new homes.  

The Inspector also acknowledged the benefits of an operationally carbon net zero development, with large areas of public open space and significant biodiversity net gain.

A further two team members have recently joined tor&co. 

George, a recently qualified Part II Architectural Assistant, has previously worked with Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Architects in London. He is looking forward to bringing some fresh thought to the team and growing his knowledge and experience by working on a range of exciting design-led projects.

Imogen joins as a Graduate Planner, having recently completed an MSc in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Birmingham. She is assisting the senior team on several residential and mixed-use schemes, including many with complex heritage constraints. 

Both George and Imogen will be based in the Bournemouth office, working on projects throughout the UK.

tor&co is pleased to add a further two new members of staff to our London Planning Team: Gemma Kjaer and Nia Powys.

Gemma joins as a Planner, having recently moved from Sydney, Australia, where she previously worked at GYDE Consulting. She is thrilled that her new role will allow her to continue developing her experience in working on residential/mixed-use development that is aimed at delivering sustainable outcomes for both communities and the environment.

Nia also joins as a Planner, having previously worked in Savills London Planning Team. She is passionate about creating inclusive and sustainable places, and hopes to use and continue to develop her experience in working on residential, social infrastructure, and Green Belt projects within the team.

Nia and Gemma will be based out of our Heddon Street London office and will be working on tor&co projects across the UK.

Gardiner has recently joined tor&co as a Technical Director within our London Planning Team, bringing with him over 9 years’ experience primarily advising on high-profile and complex projects within London and across the southeast. His passion for town planning focuses on his belief that strategic planning and good design can deliver sustainable and vibrant communities, importantly aligning with the tor&co vision to create places we can be proud of, and mission to deliver good growth. 

Gardiner has an extensive track record with assisting both private and public sector clients to achieve positive outcomes across residential, mixed-use, office, hotel, industrial, renewable and strategic infrastructure sectors. His specialisms include mixed-use regeneration, employment, tall buildings, EIA development, Green Belt, and heritage constrained development. 

Gardiner’s technical skillset and positive attitude has always allowed him to effectively lead multi-disciplinary teams throughout the planning process and lead on preparing early-stage planning appraisals and strategies, promoting land and strategic policy reform via the local plan process, preparing and managing planning applications and appeals, undertaking strategic community and political engagement, preparing CIL strategies and negotiating S.106 agreements. 

In coming to tor&co he joins an inter-disciplinary team, where his skills, quality of work and positive, solution driven, approach complements and reinforces the team. Prior to joining tor&co, Gardiner has held roles at Avison Young, Turnberry and within the public sector in Canada. 

Upon joining tor&co in August 2023, Greg Smith, Head of London Planning, said:

“We are very excited to announce Gardiner has joined tor&co’s growing London Planning Team as a Technical Director. 

He has a demonstrable track-record of delivering positive results on behalf of his clients across London and the southeast and across a wide-range of sectors. Gardiner brings great energy and enthusiasm to every project he is involved with and his can-do attitude alongside his wide-ranging experience will undoubtedly benefit the range of services and advice we can offer our clients moving forward. 

He will be working alongside myself and the tor&co Board Director team to deliver continued sustainable growth for the business, and in particular our strategy around growing our expanding London team offering.”

Planning and listed building consent has been granted for the demolition of several existing poor quality structures and the erection of a major new building – together with the laying out of a new greenspace – at the Bournemouth and Poole College, Lansdowne campus, Bournemouth.

tor&co provided planning and heritage services and submitted the planning and listed building consent applications. The scheme has been designed by Kier Construction’s project design team in close consultation with the Department for Education, Bournemouth and Poole College and BCP Council.

The layout, scale, massing and appearance of the new block has been strongly influenced by the need to respect and enhance the setting of the heritage assets of the site. It was considered by the planning case officer that the less than substantial harm to the heritage assets was “significantly” outweighed by the public benefits stemming from the scheme. These comprise an enhanced educational offer in a highly sustainable town centre location and the ongoing preservation of listed buildings.

We are delighted that Phase 1 of Grand Union in Brent won the Mixed-Use category at the inaugural #BrentDesignAwards  recognising good design across the Borough. The whole team at tor&co worked on the scheme to deliver the detailed planning approval for St George as part of the wider outline masterplan.

We are really pleased to announce that Bridget Pearce became a Board Director of tor&co on 1 April. Bridget has been with the company for over 20 years. During that time she has contributed significantly to the Company’s success, and continues to be our client lead for some of tor&co’s most important and prestigious clients. Her appointment to the Board is the first under the EOT and represents her commitment to the practice, to our approach, structure and colleagues. 

We have assisted Home Group to obtain a resolution to grant planning permission from Sutton Council for a mixed-use redevelopment on the former Victoria House site, in North Cheam.
 
The scheme will deliver 74 homes (market, shared ownership and rented with 35.6% affordable) plus three flexible commercial/community units and improved public realm. This will provide much needed new homes locally and help to reinvigorate the district centre.
 
tor&co planning began assisting Home Group in 2014 and has helped them to redesign and promote the scheme through the planning system, with extensive community engagement with officers, local councillors and resident associations, including two design panel reviews. The local resident association had a key input into the design and development, leading them to speak in support of the scheme at committee.

Image courtesy Stockwool Architects

Towards the end of 2022, tor&co held its first ‘Sustainable Travel week.’ The event was an opportunity for the company to promote sustainable travel modes, encourage staff to make positive changes to the way that they travel to work, and to highlight the great many employees who already travel in a sustainable fashion. 

The scheme was a resounding success, with 31 staff from across the tor&co London, Birmingham and Bournemouth Offices taking part, travelling to work by walking, cycling, car sharing and various methods of public transport. One of the Planning Directors in our Bournemouth office even e-scooted into work!

The survey conducted at the end of the week demonstrated that over 50% of those that took part in the initiative travelled into the office via a sustainable transport method every day that they came into the office that week. The top most utilised forms of sustainable transport during the week were train / tube (24%), car sharing (20%) and cycling (18%). 

Many of our team already ensure their commute is a sustainable one, with a large proportion of staff regularly commuting by such modes. However, the week and feedback received helped to highlight what more the company can do to assist staff in making the choice to travel sustainably in future.

The Director leading the scheme, Richard Burton said: “The tor&co Board were very pleased to see the level of participation from our team in this event, which is one step in tor&co ’s journey to reach our Net Zero goal. We look forward to making further progress in helping people to travel sustainably with a further sustainable travel event, which will take place in March.”

Following on from this successful event, the March event will be a sustainable travel month, which we hope will build on the successes of the sustainable travel week, encourage habit building and help staff to think more carefully about the mode of travel they use on their commute to work.