Energy Efficiency Questionnaire in Dartmouth Park Conservation Area

Overview

We would like to give you the opportunity to express your views, by way of an on line consultation, on how improving the energy efficiency of homes in Dartmouth Park might affect the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.

Your responses will be important in helping a group of local residents from the Dartmouth Park Conservation Area Advisory Committee, Transition Highgate, Transition Kentish Town and local Residents’ Associations and Camden Council develop new Energy Efficiency Guidance for the Dartmouth Park conservation area.

Why your views matter

Climate change is already affecting people around the world and the UK is committed through the Climate Change Act 2008 to an 80% reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change by 2050.  Approximately 30% of UK greenhouse gas emissions come from housing with over 90% of these emissions from homes built before the 1980s.  It is clear, that if we are to achieve national carbon reduction targets we must improve the energy efficiency of older homes.

The challenge is magnified because around 58% of houses in Camden were built before 1919 and as such, are some of the worst energy performing homes nationally.  To further complicate matters, over 75% of homes in Camden (and a higher percentage of the pre-1919 homes) are located in Conservation Areas with policies in placethat make it harder to make significant energy efficiency improvements to the building fabric (notably to external walls).If Camden is to play its part in supporting the UK to comply with national climate change legislation, it is important that we develop planning guidance that enables energy efficiency improvements to homes without compromising the character of Camden’s conservation areas.

Whether or not you feel climate change is important, many residents are also concerned about rising domestic fuel prices, with over 13% of residents in Camden now spending 10% or more of their household income on heating and lighting their homes.  It goes without saying that improving the energy efficiency of homes reduces residents’ vulnerability to future energy price rises.

What happens next

The new guidance would only be adopted after further public consultation, but it would seek to establish a locally sensitive approach that helps residents make energy efficiency improvements to their homes without harming and, where possible, by improving the valued character of the Conservation Area.

 The new guidance is being supported by Camden Council and builds on Camden’s recently published  Retrofitting Planning Guidance (June 2011), available on the Council’s website www.camden.gov.uk, which provides generic guidance on the planning processes to be followed when installing energy efficiency measures to homes.