Policy information sourced from Lewisham Town Centre Local Plan
LTC24 Carbon dioxide emission reduction
All ‘major development’ will be required to incorporate communal heating and cooling which futureproofs the development and allows for larger scale decentralised energy clusters to be developed in the medium to long term, in some cases beyond the plan period. Where it has been demonstrated that a communal heating and cooling system would not be the most suitable option in the short to medium term, the development should ensure a connection can still be facilitated in the medium to long term. In doing so developments should:
- incorporate energy centres that are appropriately sized not only to accommodate the interim requirements of CHP and other centralised plants, but to accommodate a ‘consumer substation unit’ – to provide all the necessary equipment for a connection to a heating and cooling network and for domestic hot water preparation,
- where a communal heating system is not installed, incorporate pipework to the edge of the site which is compatible with any other existing networks or sections and ensure the likely shortest distance to future networks,
- locate energy centres close to a street frontage (but without creating ‘dead frontage’ to a street), ensuring the likely shortest distance to future networks,
- safeguard routes from site boundaries to energy centres to enable a connection to be made to a network in the future.
The LBL Energy Strategy recommends that there is potential for at least three Policy Areas which could support a cluster of decentralised energy in Lewisham town centre in the future, as follows:
- Loampit Vale Policy Area,
- Lewisham Gateway Policy Area,
- Ladywell Road Policy Area.
For more information please see the Local Plan