The Opportunity at Ely Bridge Pooran Desai, BioRegional Development Group Haf Roberts, WWF Cymru July 2005 BioRegional Development Group is an independent environmental organisation working with industry partners to implement real- life, commercially viable solutions for sustainable living – bringing local sustainability into the mainstream. The Group has recently been a key partner in initiating, designing and constructing an urban eco-village in South London, Beddington Zero (fossil) Energy Development, or BedZED. The project was developed in partnership with the Peabody Trust. The development demonstrates that green living is a real, attractive and affordable option. This is created by integrating energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency with services like car clubs and local organic food deliveries, and facilities to support recycling, composting and cycling. BedZED was designed to provide 82 homes, office space and live-work units, making it the UK’s largest eco-village. The village has a mix of affordable housing for people on low incomes and private homes for sale at prices comparable to more conventional homes in the area. It is designed for a comfortable and highly resource-efficient way of life. The Beddington Zero (fossil) Energy Development Building on the lessons of BedZED, on what has worked and understanding what has been less successful, BioRegional are currently working with partners to develop sustainable communities around the world. In Portugal we are working with Pelicano and their design team on proposals for a 6,000 unit eco-tourism project in Mata de Sesimbra, near Lisbon. The project will be developed and managed following the One Planet Living Principles (detailed later in this document). It is a pioneering project integrating sustainable building, tourism, nature conservation and reforestation programmes. BioRegional is also working on a design for a 2000 home zero waste and zero carbon One Planet Living community for up to 5000 people in the Thames Gateway regeneration area east of central London. The energy, water and waste strategies for the Z-squared project have been completed and designs have been produced in partnership with Foster and Partners, KBR, Fulcrum Consulting and Cyril Sweett. BioRegional has worked as consultant to local authorities and developers throughout the UK. 1 Contents Introduction to the Report 3 Vision for One Planet Living 4 Ely Bridge and the Challenge of One Planet Living 6 Zero Carbon 8 Zero Waste 12 Sustainable Transport 13 Sustainable Construction Material 14 Local and Sustainable Food 16 Sustainable Water 17 Natural Habitats and Wildlife 18 Cultural and Heritage 19 Equity and Fair Trade 19 Health and Happiness 21 Summary Table 24 Appendix: The Three Planet Challenge Ecological Footprint of Wales Cardiff’s Ecological Footprint 2 Introduction to the report This report summarises the scope for the proposed re-development of Ely Bridge to become a “One Planet Living” community. Key source documents are the Outline Planning Application submitted by the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) dated November 2004 and the Urban Design Principles and Design Code for the site, along with Cardiff Council’s strategic documents.1 Creating a “One Planet Living” community is as much about how the development will be managed in the long term as what is designed at the outset and long term sustainable management issues should inform initial design. The nature of the site and the masterplan scheme as proposed has key elements of sustainability incorporated into it, such proximity to public transport, relatively high densities and a mix of uses. This report looks at the opportunities to build on the proposed masterplan to create a One Planet Living community for Wales. The report draws heavily on more detailed studies carried out BioRegional for other sites in the UK, but the principles apply to the Ely Bridge proposal. We have concluded that it is entirely possible for the WDA to develop the site as a “One Planet Living” community, a significant regeneration opportunity – and a place where it is easy, attractive and affordable for people to live within a fair share of the Earth’s resources. The WDA itself has produced guidelines for sustainable communities and these fit in with the OPL opportunities.2 Cardiff also aspires to raise awareness of sustainable lifestyles and we believe establishing a One Planet Living community at Ely Bridge is one way of achieving the Council’s long-term vision to become one of Europe’s most sustainable cities. The Summary Table at the end of this report shows how each of the OPL principles can help achieve Cardiff Council’s Strategic Aims. This approach clarifies in detail how we believe the setting up of the OPL community will help achieve some of the Council’s aims as laid out in the Council’s three strategic documents mentioned below. Further information on the Ecological Footprint methodology and the Wales and Cardiff footprint projects are provided in the Appendix. 1 Cardiff Council’s Policy Action Plan 2005/08 (7 April 2005); Local Sustainability Strategy for Cardiff (November 2000) and Better Communities Brighter Lives Community Strategy Action Plan (2004 – 2014) “Making the vision a Reality” (March 2004) 2 ‘Creating Sustainable Places: Sustaining a Prosperous Wales’ WDA March 2005. Vision for One Planet Living To help communicate the challenge we all face in reducing our environmental impact, and to facilitate change at local and global levels by working with partners, BioRegional and WWF have recently launched a new initiative – One Planet Living. The initiative aims to build on the work of both organisations, including WWF’s One Million Sustainable Homes campaign and the Living Planet Report, and BioRegional’s work on BedZED and products and services to reduce environmental impact, to promote the concepts of sustainable development and Ecological Footprinting (see Appendix). The vision of One Planet Living (OPL) is a world in which people everywhere can lead happy, healthy lives within their fair share of the earth’s resources. The aims of the One Planet Living initiative are to: 1 Bring together partners to build a world-wide network of One Planet Living Communities to demonstrate how people everywhere can improve their quality of life whilst living within a fair share of the earth’s resources 2 Establish One Planet Living Centres in each OPL community as a focus for education and continuous professional development 3 Promote a range of One Planet Living Products and Services that will help people to reduce their ecological footprint, such as local paper cycles 4 Promote the imperative for One Planet Living and its guiding principles to catalyse change with governments, business and individuals. One Planet Living Communities One Planet Living Communities will be on such a scale that they encompass not just homes and workspace as at BedZED, but also the shared infrastructure such as schools, factories, health and leisure facilities, transport services and food links to show that people everywhere can live within their fair share of the earth’s resources. OPL will facilitate the development of these Communities, by forming professional partnerships with sufficient capacity and expertise to deliver them. Typically partners may include the relevant local or regional government authority, local community representatives, one or more developers, architects, engineers, valuers, financiers, and providers of key infrastructure and services related to transport, energy, waste and food. OPL will bring together key competencies, skills and know-how. OPL will be the catalyst and provide the inspiration to make One Planet Living Communities a reality, whether they are new developments or major regeneration and refurbishment projects. 4 One Planet Living Communities will adopt the following Principles: One Planet Living Principles Zero Carbon Sustainable Water The scope of these Principles extends beyond the use of the Ecological Foot printing to include issues relating to social and economic Zero Waste Natural Habitats and Wildlife sustainability such as equity and wellbeing. Sustainable Transport Culture and Heritage Local and Sustainable Materials Equity and Fair Trade Local and Sustainable Food Health and Happiness As part of the design, development and operation processes associated with each OPL Community, a Plan is produced for each of the 10 Principles, as part of an overall Sustainability Action Plan, detailing the infrastructure and services provided and ongoing strategies to ensure long-term sustainability. The challenge that faces us all is: how can people everywhere enjoy a high quality of life, within the carrying capacity of one planet? If we are to achieve One Planet Living, we need to rise to the challenge as individuals, as communities and organisations. We need to consider every aspect of how we live and build to enable us to make lifestyle choices which will reduce our environmental impact. A development, such as that proposed on the former paper mill site at Ely Bridge, provides an unprecedented opportunity to respond to this challenge, to demonstrate an exemplar of sustainable development in a One Planet Living community in Wales. Such an exemplar project also offers the opportunity to Government to help anchor the idea of sustainability in people’s everyday lives. Global threats, like climate change, often appear to be intangible concepts of little direct relevance and about which people feel they can do very little. Addressing